Independence Day Safety Tips From Navicent Health
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an estimated 230 people per day will visit emergency rooms across the U.S. in the month surrounding Independence Day. Children younger than age 15 accounted for approximately 35 percent of those injured. The most common injuries include burns to the hands and fingers, followed by injuries that involve the head, face, eyes and ears.
Fireworks, including sparklers and flares, can cause serious burns as well as blast injuries that can permanently impair vision and hearing. Physicians at Atrium Health Navicent Beverly Knight Olson Children's Hospital and the Pediatric Emergency Center encourage parents to protect their children from firework injuries this summer.
Tips include the following:
"¢ Handle and use fireworks in strict accordance with the manufacturer's instructions and all warning labels.
"¢ Light fireworks on smooth, flat surfaces, and aim them away from buildings, dry leaves, flammable materials and spectators.
"¢ Do not try to relight fireworks that malfunction.
"¢ Do not modify fireworks or use homemade fireworks.
"¢ Light fireworks one at a time, then quickly move back.
"¢ Do not shoot fireworks from a metal or glass container.
"¢ Keep a phone and a bucket of water or a fire extinguisher handy, and know first aid for burns.
As with any activity involving hazardous equipment, adults should actively supervise all children when they are near fireworks.
If injury does occur, the experts at Atrium Health Navicent Beverly Knight Olson Children's Hospital and the Pediatric Emergency Center are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to assist families with specialized care.
"Children need a children's hospital, and you shouldn't have to wait for expert care. Our emergency center is designed specifically to meet the needs of children, and to put them at ease in what can often be a frightening situation. Parents can also have peace of mind knowing their children are being cared for by the region's leading pediatricians and specialists," said Rogelio Dela Cruz, Medical Director of Pediatric Emergency Center, Atrium Health Navicent.
Located at 770 Pine Street in Macon, the Pediatric Emergency Center provides direct access to the many pediatricians and children's specialists at Atrium Health Navicent Beverly Knight Olson Children's Hospital. A children's waiting area and minimal wait times ensure families receive quick access to care in a child-friendly patient room.
About Atrium Health Navicent
Atrium Health Navicent was incorporated on November 17, 1994, as a nonprofit corporation whose primary purpose is to coordinate the Medical Center, Navicent Health and other affiliated entities in their mission of providing a comprehensive continuum of high quality, reasonably priced healthcare services to the region. Atrium Health Navicent has 830 beds for medical, surgical, rehabilitation and hospice purposes. The health system includes The Medical Center, Navicent Health, a nationally recognized tertiary teaching hospital; Atrium Health Navicent Beverly Knight Olson Children's Hospital, the region's only dedicated pediatric hospital; Medical Center of Peach County, Atrium Health Navicent, a rural critical access hospital; Rehabilitation Hospital, Atrium Health Navicent, the region's oldest and most experienced rehabilitation provider; Pine Pointe, Atrium Health Navicent, which provides palliative and hospice care in homes and in its facility; Carlyle Place, Atrium Health Navicent, the area's first continuing care retirement community; Navicent Health Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Atrium Health Navicent; as well as diagnostic and home care services. For more information, please visit www.navicenthealth.org.