Indexing Title: NALUDINOs Medical Anecdotal Report [06-01]

MAR Title: Why we should do away with firecrackers

Date of Medical Observation: January 31, 2005

Narration:

            Happy new year! Everybody was in a jolly mood. All medical personnel were busy giving out salutations, wishing everybody a prosperous year. Yet in the back of our minds, we were anticipating a multitude of patients. Some were hoping that we will have a benign duty. A few minutes after twelve, the initial trickle of patients became a torrent of patients, their relatives and media personnel.

            There were a myriad of cases. We managed the usual medico-legal cases, vehicular accidents, mauling victims and as expected, blast injuries. Some patients you can’t help but blame, they were playing with firecrackers under the influence of alcohol.

            There was one patient however that stood out above the rest. He was a 10-year-old child, whose right hand was mangled by a firecracker. An innocent child. He was supposed to be on his way to church when he chanced upon a pyrotechnique which failed to ignite. He decided then to scavenge what was left of the firecracker. As he was doing so, somebody threw a lighted cigarette in his direction and rest is history.

            Left with nothing but a mangled right hand, we decided that it would be best to amputate the hand. It could no longer be saved. I can’t forget the look on the patient’s parents when we explained to them our treatment plan.  I tried not to look at the patient’s face, but all throughout I could hear him crying.

            After the necessary preparations were made, the operation pushed through. After the operation, we were left with a child condemned to ridicule by his peers. All because he stopped for that firecracker.

Insights (Physical, Psychosocial, Ethical) (Discovery, Stimulus, Reinforcements):

After encountering this case, I can’t help but think about all the other children who had to suffer the same fate. For the past years, the number of firecracker related injuries have been on a constant decline. Yet, this new year, it seemed that the lessons learned from the past years have been forgotten. We were seeing more injuries from different types of firecrackers.

We must stem the tide before it is too late. It is part of our responsibility as physicians to educate our patients. We must not be complacent. These are injuries which can be prevented. These are senseless injuries. The public must be educated on the proper use of firecrackers or better yet they must be educated to not use firecrackers. There are proponents of banning firecrackers altogether. Maybe it is an avenue worth venturing into. The lessons learned through this unfortunate child and many others like him should not be forgotten. We must strive hard to prevent the same fate from happening to other children.