*This is a sponsored post, however additional opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy and About me
TO learn why this post is so important to you my readers. Growing up my Dad always put the best fireworks display on each year. We would sit in the back, he would line up poles and set the fireworks up inside and ignite from arm’s length. Of course we sat and oo’d and awe’d and really enjoyed those Roman Candles that had no possible way to light from afar but they really do produce the nicest color spray. When he go to the M-80’s, snakes and cherry bombs it was a little more scary as we saw it because the fuses were so much less and on the snakes it was the unknown. The snakes ended up just being little pieces that had no explosion them, but the ground was permanently charred with their residue while the cherry bombs offered a rather good smoke screen. However, the M-80’s were super dangerous as you just never knew when the fuse was going to pop quicker that you could throw and when he lit them on the ground he jumped back quickly out of the way. My mom was always reminding my dad, “fireworks are dangerous, this makes me nervous and keep the kids back!” One time we were in the front yard sitting and the cops rode by that was a bit intimidating and our neighbors who were lighting fireworks stopped immediately and ran for the indoors. We went back to our yard and then enjoyed a few more fireworks as my dad and uncle lit a few Whistling Pete and in return the neighbors(who came back outside) returned a few shots of some Sky Rockets. These are just distant memories, but I relive them each 4th of July and EVERY time I ride by a vendor on a corner selling fireworks in those pop-up sales tents. Do you really know what you are buying when you purchase fireworks for the 4th of July? You may be purchasing a one way ticket to trauma and ending up at the UPMC Trauma Center if your celebration does not go as planned.
Brought to you by: UPMC Trauma Services and the UPMC Mercy Burn Center
Did you know you can lost body parts due to the explosives in fireworks? The sad truth is that each 4th of July according to UPMC Health Center, over 9,000 people become injured by fireworks and even more traumatizing is that they are under the age of 20. Injuries from fireworks range from burns, fractures to sprains, just depending on what was happening during the lighting ceremony. One set of neighbors a few years back had a houseful of people over and suddenly at 10p, we heard a lot of commotion. The entire party gathered on his deck and he was lighting fireworks in the middle. No one was moving and he was setting off Whistling Petes, Bottle Rockets, M-80’s(in a cooking pot) and suddenly a bottle rocket when into his screen door. People were running everywhere, someone got a hose, there were screams, shouts and they were lucky that all that happened was the screen getting lodged. The smoke that followed was ridiculous and suddenly the party cleared out, and since there has NEVER been another party with fireworks at their home. Here is a great infographic from The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) that highlights firework safety and injury prevention tips to help keep you and your family safe during the holiday. The 4th of July holiday is fabricated around the Red, White & Blue, let’s not make it about Blood(red), and White bandages or black and BLUE marks from firework problems. Keep safe, and let the pros handle the seasonal fireworks. *information on Infographic is frm UPMC Mercy Burn Center and UPMC Trauma Services Teams.
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