Americans prepare for Fourth of July; Harborview doctors prepare for injuries

As Americans prepare for Independence Day celebrations, doctors at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle are bracing for additional patients.

Emergency room physician, Dr. Arvin Akhavan, said the area’s leading trauma center sees an average of 55 people injured by fireworks over the Fourth of July holiday.

With the holiday on a Friday this year, he fears that number will increase.

“We’re going to have a whole weekend of Fourth of July activities,” he said in an interview provided by UW Medicine.

Majority of Fourth of July injuries come from improper firework use

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

Orthopedic surgeon Chelsea Boe 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,” she said.

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.

“We see a lot of teenagers and young adults, really not aware that that split second decision that they make — playing with their friends, playing with fireworks, kind of the moment of adrenaline when they’re shooting a firework off — is going to change the entire course of the rest of their life,” she shared.

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