Belgium's largest burns unit the National Burns and Poisons Centre revealed on Thursday that five patients were cared for by their doctors after New Year's Eve. Their injuries were a result of accidents with private fireworks and were more "than in the last 16 years combined."
New Year's Eve is always one of the busiest nights of the year for emergency services in Belgium, especially when people let off their own fireworks. Despite a ban by local authorities on private fireworks, 31 December 2022 proved to be no different.
In fact, the National Burns and Poisons Centre in the City of Brussels (home to the largest European burn unit) saw some of the highest numbers of patients due to firework accidents in its history. The centre's head of service Thomas Rose revealed to Het Laatste Nieuws that the five patients they took in after the New Year was a higher figure "than in the last 16 years combined."
"I used to be surprised when journalists wanted me to talk about fireworks incidents because there weren't any; this is no longer the case."
The National Burns unit does not deal with the most severe cases as "victims with eye injuries or severed fingers end up in other centres," meaning that the total number of injuries caused by fireworks is even larger.
A pointless ban?
Most authorities have attempted to ban private fireworks in recent years but in Rose's view, further restrictions are not a good idea.
"How are you going to control that" he asked, especially if "you can just order all these products online shops from other European countries." The only viable solution for him would be to implement a nationwide ban which he deems to be unrealistic.
As a result, Rose is calling for the general population to be made aware of the risks fireworks bring through an improved prevention campaign. Up until now these risks "have clearly not been reaching the perpetrators" of the attacks against emergency service personnel seen over the weekend.
"If we do nothing, chances are that by 31 December 2023 things will be even worse," he concluded.
