DOH: Gov't hospitals spending P25,000 for each firecracker blast victim

MANILA, Philippines - Government hospitals are spending up to P25,000 for the hospitalization of each patient treated for injuries caused by firecracker blasts, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) disclosed yesterday.

DOH Assistant Secretary Dr. Eric Tayag said the cost ranges from P3,000 to P25,000 for treatment of a person at a state hospital, while for outpatients P2,000 is spent by the government to treat their wounds.

Based on DOH Surveillance Report No. 7, the number of firecracker victims rose by 30 cases or from 133 to 163.

Ninety-three of these cases involved children who got injured after playing with the seemingly harmless “piccolo.”

There is a new stray bullet case involving a 13-year-old girl who was hit on the knee while inside a church in Tondo, Manila on Christmas Eve.

The latest victim brought to eight the number of cases since the DOH started the surveillance last Dec. 21

A three-year-old girl from Tondo, Manila suffered poisoning after ingesting a small luces (sparkler), bringing to two the “firecracker ingestion” cases.

DOH Undersecretary Ted Herbosa said that a majority of firecracker victims are brought to government hospitals. “I think even the rich use their drivers and houseboys to light up firecrackers.”

Herbosa added that “risky behaviour and lack of culture of safety is more prevalent in the lower socioeconomic classes.”

“Maybe (it’s) partly lack of knowledge of the consequences of injury and disability. That is when you the media can help by educating them about the risks of firecrackers. Hope we can slowly change this tradition with that of a culture of safety rather than wanton carelessness,” he maintained.

As a replacement for firecrackers, the DOH came up with compact disc (CDs) containing the sounds of exploding firecrackers like Five Star, Super Lolo, Judas Belt, watusi, whistle bomb, kwitis, luces and trompillo in the CDs.

Included in the CDs is a “firecracker symphony” that provides a countdown capped by all the sounds being played simultaneously.

Guitarist Herbert Hernandez of the 6CycleMind rock band produced the CDs and donated 500 pieces to support the DOH’s campaign against firecrackers and indiscriminate firing of guns. – With Non Alquitran, Dino Balabo, Edith Regalado, Cecille Suerte Felipe