A total of 47 persons reported with injuries caused by crackers at the Government Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) Hospital and Government Stanley Medical College Hospital on Deepavali day.
Most of them had injuries on their hands and faces, say doctors.
The Department of Burns of KMC received 26 persons with injuries caused by crackers.
Eight of them were admitted for treatment, while the remaining were treated as outpatients. Going by the case details, 10 of the injured were children; the youngest being four years old.
When compared to previous years, the number of patients seeking treatment for injuries caused by crackers was lesser this Deepavali. Last year, there were 55 persons, while there were 42 persons in 2016, according to P. Vasanthamani, dean of KMC.
In fact, the number of cases was only six to seven till afternoon on Tuesday, said G. Karthikeyan, head,
Department of Burns, KMC. “The inflow started to rise rapidly in the evening,” he said.
Three patients, including two children, sustained 40% injuries, he added.
“One child had lit crackers near a hay stack. The dress as well as the hay stack caught fire. Another child had tried to burst an ‘atom bomb’ inside the house, leading to injury. In the third patient, the cracker burst in the hand, injuring the fingers,” he said.
He said most of the injuries were mainly involving the face and hands.
“The injured were mostly children,” he said.
“In majority of the cases, the injury was caused by crackers such as flower pots and chakras ,” he added.
The Government Stanley Medical College Hospital received 21 persons with cracker injuries, said the dean, S. Ponnambala Namasivayam.
Emergency calls
The Emergency Response Centre of the 108 ambulance service received nearly 31,000 calls on Deepavali. Last year, nearly 24,000 calls were made to the emergency helpline on Deepavali, an official said.
“The calls were predominantly for road traffic accidents. A total of 4,800 emergency dispatches were made by the 108 ambulance network,” he said.
Meanwhile, the State Health Department’s helpline — 104 — received 2,350 calls as compared to 1,517 calls last year, on Deepavali.
