MANILA – First, the good news: government hospitals that usually account for the bulk of firecracker victims showed a sharp decline in the number as 2017 crossed over to 2018. The bad news: there appeared to be a spike in the number of road crash victims and people injured in brawls and stabbings during the New Year revelry being brought to hospital.
In at least one major government hospital, the East Avenue Medical Center, such appeared to be the trend. Between the hours of late New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day, EAMC medical staff received mostly victims of road crashes and brawls.
One of those injured, identified as Jason Quilisado, 20 years old from San Bartolome, Novaliches, suffered severe head wounds when rushed to East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC).
According to an account given by his mother, Jason had already taken alcohol when he decided to ride a motorcycle heading to the house of a friend.
Along the way, he lost control, crashed and was thrown off the motorcycle.
He reportedly hit his head on a rock by the wayside.
Another casualty, identified as Dante Abanel, who hails from Tatalon, Quezon City, suffered a bloody nose and injuries to his face and was also brought to EAMC.
He was reportedly hit in the face by an unspecified person: “I had been drinking … This guy told me, ‘Hey man, this is just a trip.” Then, whack!
As of 6am Monday (January 1), officials counted 19 people brought in to EAMC for firecracker-related victims, a far lower toll compared to previous New Year celebrations. Among them was an elderly man from Cavite who was brought to EAMC about 5 am Monday. Roxas Edmundo, 60, had an eye injury from piccolo.
However, over 40 people brought to the hospital were involved in road crashes and altercations, some of which led to stabbings.
Initial information showed some of them appeared to have imbibed alcohol.
Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, assistant secretary at the Department of Health, confirmed that initial reports DOH got from the field indicated a sharp decline in the number of firecracker-related victims brought to government emergency rooms.
“Nakakatuwang tignan ang laki ng ibinagsak ng mga kaso [It is good to see a sharp decline in the number of cases],” the DOH official said in a radio interview.
He noted that at the National Orthopedic Hospital, no case was reported since Dec. 21.
He said officials attribute the sharp decline in casualty numbers to President Dutertes executive order banning firecrackers, but added the goal should still be zero casualties.
Meanwhile, Ospital ng Maynila tallied only 8 firecracker victims brought there for treatment, according to early radio reports on New Year’s Day.
They were tagged as minor cases, and all were sent home after treatment
Since Dec. 22, Ospital ng Maynila listed only 18 cases, and officials said this time around, doctors didn’t need to use surgery tools used for amputation.
Over at the Philippine General Hospital, only one victim, a 27-year-old man, was brought in overnight from New year’s Eve.
Since Dec. 21, only four cases were tallied at PGH.
62% DECLINE
Earlier on Thursday (Dec. 28), a total of 19 firecracker-related injuries, with one amputation, were reported by the Department of Health’s (DOH) Epidemiology Bureau. This brought to 61 the total number of injuries recorded since Dec. 21, the bureau said in its Aksyon: Paputok Injury Reduction 2017 Report 7.
“This is 98 (62 percent) cases lower than the five-year (2012-2016) average and 47 (44 percent) cases lower than the same time period last year,” read the report.
The number of amputees has reached four after a 13-year-old boy from Sipalay City, Negros Occidental lost a finger on his right hand after igniting a Bazooka, an illegal firecracker. He was taken to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital.
Of the 61 injured, 58 were male; 49 were active users; 48 occurred on the streets; and 41 injured their hands. Some 36 of them handled the illegal firecracker, Piccolo.
Some 32 of the 61 cases were from the National Capital Region (NCR), with Manila accounting for 20.
So far, there has been no case of stray bullet injury and fireworks ingestion.
The DOH conducts the “Iwas Paputok Campaign” annually to raise public awareness on the dangers of lighting firecrackers. It instead encourages people to watch community fireworks displays.
