00:00Hi, I'm Dr. Gairik, Konya Surgeon from Narayan, Netralaya, Rajajinagar.
00:05Firecracker injuries have seen an increase, especially over the last three days when people have been active in bursting firecrackers.
00:13Our center has seen over 62 cases which have come in varying grades of injuries over the last three days.
00:22Interestingly and unfortunately, more than 50% of the injuries have been pediatric injuries or kids or children less than
00:2918 years of age.
00:31And not only that, many of the injuries you have seen over the last three days have been injuries of
00:37bystanders or someone who wasn't actually bursting the firecrackers
00:40but was merely passing through the area where a firecracker was being burst or a projectile went and hit his
00:47eye.
00:49Therefore, safety and awareness is equally important.
00:54Of the 62 injuries, over 20 of them had sight-threatening injuries.
00:59Many of them might lose some vision in the eye which is affected.
01:04Three of those patients underwent emergency eye repairs or surgeries over the last three days.
01:12So, it's an appeal to people to be aware and not to burst crackers in areas which are crowded.
01:20To actively take efforts in using protective eyewear while they are bursting crackers.
01:26And for parents who are allowing children to burst crackers, many of them are going unsupervised and that is causing
01:34injuries.
01:35As young as a few years old or even a few months old, this is something which is to be
01:41taken with, you know, importance, with higher awareness and supervise kids when they are bursting crackers.
