Harborview confirms 47 people injured from fireworks-related incidents

Forty-seven people suffered injuries related to fireworks incidents over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, medical staff with Harborview Medical Center confirmed with UW Medicine.

The medical center categorized the injuries as 18 involving hands, 13 involving eyes, eight involving other body areas, and eight involving multiple areas (such as hands and eyes).

The reported injuries come as fire departments around the Puget Sound region responded to dozens of fires and calls over the weekend.

Despite the large number of injuries, Dr. Arvin Akhavan said Harborview Medical Center, the area’s leading trauma center, sees an average of 55 people over the Fourth of July holiday due to fireworks-related injuries.

Misused, even legal fireworks can lead to severe burns, cuts, eye injuries, hearing loss, and amputations.

Before this year’s Fourth of July, Chelsea Boe, an orthopedic surgeon with Harborview Medical Center, said some of the most severe injuries she’s seen are when people get too hands-on with fireworks.

“Sometimes people try to light the fireworks and then throw them,” Boe told KIRO Newsradio.

Or, people will continue holding fireworks after they’re lit. Boe said the results can be “pretty impressive and horrendous blast injuries.”

“There’s trauma to the skin, the soft tissues, the tendons that help you move your fingers, the nerves that let you sense your fingers, and then the bones themselves,” she explained.

Sometimes, a blast itself can amputate fingers and hands, or force doctors to remove parts of the body that are beyond repair.

Contributing: KIRO 7