Lang
6/30/23
Trauma experts with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics are reminding Iowans to be safe this weekend when handling or setting off fireworks, noting that some fireworks-related injuries have tripled since fireworks became legal in 2017.
An earlier report compiled by researchers from the UIHC and the university’s College of Public Health, along with emergency personnel from Iowa Methodist Medical Center and the UI Injury Prevention Research Center, shows that in the two-year period following legalization, the two trauma centers saw a combined 107 fireworks-related injuries; in the three years prior, that combined total was just 43. For patients under the age of 18, the number of injuries rose from 11.3% to 30.8% after the legalization of fireworks.
Additionally, the severity of injuries increased. Since legalization, 18% of injuries required amputation, mostly fingers, while there were no amputations recorded in the three years prior to legalization.
The report also showed that the number of people handling fireworks and being injured increased, from 52% before legalization to 64% after.
