Drop in number of injuries

Doctors cite increased awareness, lesser use of fireworks

The festival of lights brought in several injured to city hospitals, but doctors say the numbers have come down marginally, as per hospital records, possibly due to increased awareness about safety, and fewer residents using firecrackers.

At the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, as of Thursday, the day after Deepavali, there were a total of 35 patients seen — 26 treated as outpatients, and nine admitted.

Nirmala Ponnambalam, head of the burns and plastic surgery department at the hospital, said most patients had face, hand and back injuries caused by firecrackers. A couple of blast injuries were also seen.

While most patients were children, there were a few adults as well, Dr. Ponnambalam said.

The hospital had set aside two special wards with a total of 20 beds for injuries coming in during Deepavali.

Last year, the hospital had 42 patients and in 2015, it treated 36 patients.

Dean of the hospital P. Vasanthamani attributed the decrease in cases to awareness programmes and to fewer people buying crackers.

At Kanchi Kamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital, two patients were treated for burn injuries. One child had fallen into oil and the other had flame burns, said K. Mathangi Ramakrishnan, chief of plastic surgery and burns. Dr. Mathangi too said the reduction in bursting of firecrackers could be the reason for the decrease in cases.

Combination of factors

There were 15 firecracker-related injuries at Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, said senior consultant A. Soundari. “But year after year, the number of injuries has been coming down, possibly due to a combination of safety awareness and people not buying as many crackers as before,” she said. The injuries ranged between superficial skin burns and two cases that required surgery, a lid tear and a globe rupture, she said.

The State-run 108 emergency ambulance service was kept busy however with around 4,300 emergency calls across the State, higher than the usual number of around 3,200, said a senior official at GVK EMRI, which operates the service. However, he said there were hardly any major fire or burn-related cases. “Last Deepavali, there were 4,097 cases, so there is a slight rise this year, but this may be due to increased awareness of ambulatory services. Burns cases are steadily decreasing year on year,” he said.

In addition, the 104 health helpline received calls from two residents about Deepavali — a woman, who was upset over her husband not getting crackers for their child, and another resident, who had to go on an official field visit and was distressed at not being able to spend time with his family. Both were counselled.