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Hospitals preparing for fireworks injuries as Halloween approaches

Despite widespread bans on the sale of fireworks, two-thirds of all fireworks injuries to children in Canada happen in B.C., and of these, almost 90 per cent occur around Halloween.
CBC News ·

Despite widespread bans on the sale of fireworks, two-thirds of all fireworks injuries to children in Canada happen in B.C. — and of these, almost 90 per cent occur around Halloween, according to theB.C.'s Children's Hospital.

Dr. Ran Goldman says every year children arrive at emergency wards with serious injuries from fireworks. ((CBC))

Staff at the hospital say they treat five to 10 children with fireworks injuries every year at their facility alone.So as Halloween approaches, they and staff at other Lower Mainland emergency rooms are preparing to deal with the expected rash of incidents.

Hospital staff said those injuries include burns, blindness, amputations and even death, but every year sales continue.

Dr. Ran Goldman said he has already seen too many children with injuries in emergency room at the B.C. Children's Hospital.

"Similarly to not allowing your child to fire up the barbecue, you would not let them play with fireworks. They are all the same source of fire, a very dangerous play," Goldman said.

Thedangers of fireworks
  • 8,000 children are injured in North America each year and 20 people will die.
  • The most frequent injuries are burns to the hands and face.
  • About 120 amputations occur annually to the hands and fingers.
  • Permanent blindness occurs in aboutone-third of eye injuries.
  • Injuries include permanent hearing loss in children resulting from a single exposure to a high-level impulsive sound.
  • In one year, about 51,000 fires resulted in $36 million in property damage in North America.
  • Five to 10children come to B.C. Children's Hospital with fireworks injuries every year.
  • Aseemingly harmless sparkler can burn as hot as 982 C and will not extinguish when placed in a container of water.
  • The WHO has recommended a worldwide ban onmanufacturing.
  • There are no standards in North America regarding manufacturing.
  • Many devices are manufactured overseas with little or no quality control.

(Source: B.C.'s Children's Hospital report)

Despite the bans in some municipalities because of the dangers, fireworks are readily available.

Fireworks sales to adults are legal in Vancouver, the North Shore, Burnaby and Port Moody. Sales are banned, and residents need a permit to let off fireworks in Delta, Coquitlam and Richmond.

Other municipalities, such as Abbotsford, Maple Ridge and Surrey go a step further, requiring anyone lighting off the pyrotechnics to have a fireworks supervisor's certificate.

Business is booming for retailers such as Gurvinder Sandher, who expects to sell $100,000 worth of fireworks in the single week around Halloween.

Sandher operates 30 T&T outlets across several Metro Vancouver municipalities that still allow the sales, but he said many of his customers come from cities where the fireworks are banned.

"They are still buying from us. We tell them, hey, this is banned in Delta and Surrey, White Rock, but a lot of people they don't care. They just take it anyways," Sandher said Monday.

Richmond resident Ray Debruyn stopped at Sandher's Oaks Street store to buy some fireworks for his Halloween celebrations.

"I thought I'd just stop in, surprise the kids and have a little more excitement," Debruyn said Monday.

Other customers are not just looking for fireworks, said Sandher. Some want noisemaking firecrackers that are also banned in Vancouver.

Sandher says he doesn't sell those firecrackers, but shoppers can find noisemakers on the internet, where it's legal to sell them.

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