Fireworks safety

As the Fourth of July holidays approach, many families are getting prepared for the festivities and celebrating by purchasing fireworks. However, we should remember that the combination of children and fireworks can play a major role in dangerous situations.

More than 4,200 children ages 0 to 9 visited the hospital for firework-related injuries in 2022, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Seven percent of those children were injured badly enough to be hospitalized. Children aged 5 to 9 were one of the only age groups to see a rise in such injuries in 2023, with an estimated eight hundred injuries within a single 30-day period.

Safe Kids Mid-South, led by Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, recommends:

• Leave fireworks to professional use; It is not legal to use fireworks in Memphis or Shelby County without a permit
• Make sure children never play with or light sparklers or fireworks
• And, if adults use fireworks, children should not be near them.

Be extra careful with sparklers

• Little arms are too short to hold sparklers, which can heat up to 2,000 degrees. How about this? Let your young children use glow sticks instead. They can be just as fun but they don’t burn at a temperature hot enough to melt glass.
• Closely supervise children around fireworks at all times.

Have a fun and safe 4^th of July!