Every year around the Fourth of July, the public is warned about the dangers of handling fireworks in an irresponsible or illegal way. But that doesn’t stop everyone from doing it, which sometimes leads to serious injuries.
“It is a very real problem,” said Dr. Aviram Giladi, a hand surgeon at the Curtis National Hand Center located at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
According to Giladi, doctors like him see patients with injuries related to fireworks constantly in the days and weeks surrounding Independence Day.
“It’s a problem that’s big enough to keep coming up at all hand surgery centers,” Giladi said. “They can be devastating injuries.”
The more common injuries are from less dangerous fireworks, such as bottle rockets. People who mess around with those might be taken to the hospital with a single finger injured, a burn or something more “manageable,” Giladi said.
The more problematic injuries come from cherry bombs and high-energy devices, such as mortar fireworks that cause large explosions.
“Those are so devastating when they occur,” Giladi explained. “I have had a patient lose their entire hand from an injury like this.”
Giladi has seen it all. Some people lose a finger, while others have burn injuries that leave scarring on parts of their hand.
Yet, the one constant, Giladi said, is the “emotional” scarring that these patients have to live with.
“It is emotionally scarring for the patient, anyone around the patient at the time of the injury and the patient’s family,” Giladi said. “The emotional toll, and the physical toll, is hard to quantify.”
Giladi said he doesn’t want to encourage anyone to handle fireworks, but for people who choose to do so, the most important rule is to never pick up a firework after it has been lit, even if it appears that it is not going to go off.
“Don’t pick it back up,” Giladi said. “Just leave it alone.”
Any fireworks that explode, including firecrackers, cherry bombs, salutes and Roman candles, are illegal in D.C. and all jurisdictions in Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland.
Potential penalties for using illegal fireworks range from a $1,000 fine and up to six months in prison in Prince George’s County, Maryland, to a $2,500 fine and up to one year in prison in Alexandria.
