New year, new eye injuries. Five of the ten are seriously injured. – The other five have eye injuries that are moderately serious, says senior doctor Nils Bull to news. – The authorities are opening a window of time in which angry men can set fire to explosives surrounded by family, friends or large crowds. Anyone who has a little bit of circulation in their head understands that things can’t go well. Photo: Marit Stensby / news At the turn of the year every year, people suffer eye damage as a result of using fireworks on New Year’s Eve. And every single year, ophthalmologist Nils Bull at Haukeland University Hospital has to treat such injuries. – It has never gone well as long as we have carried on with this in the age of fireworks, and it will not go well as long as we continue with this madness, says Bull. Definitions of the types of eye damage Serious eye damage: Is expected to cause a significant reduction in vision. Moderately serious eye damage: Severe acute damage, but is not expected to cause a significant reduction in vision. Light eye injuries: are treated at the emergency room and are not included in this overview. Source: Haukeland University Hospital Willing to put an end to the combination of fireworks and alcohol Bull has kept statistics on eye injuries on New Year’s Eve for 19 years. At the start of the new year, this year there were 10 people who suffered eye injuries as a result of fireworks. – I am quite clear that there should be a total ban on private fireworks, and that we should only have public fireworks. He believes that the combination of fireworks and alcohol on New Year’s Eve must be stopped. – Impaired judgment and explosives are a very bad combination. Men and children are often injured Nils Bull calls all the eye departments in the country and speaks to the doctor on duty. In this way, he can map the injuries, who was injured and how the injuries occurred. – We have absolutely certain statistics on this, that it is the men who are most often injured. They are usually the ones who set off fireworks, and they are the ones who behave the most foolishly. This night there were nine men and one boy who were injured. – Most of the injuries occurred when power batteries were used. One suffered serious eye damage when he was bent over the battery when it was lit. Before New Year’s Eve, a total of 11 people suffered eye damage. Five of them were children. – That tells me that the parents don’t look after it well enough. It’s very stupid. These kids will have their sight for the rest of their lives. Then it is an even higher price they pay. – Wear safety glasses! The Directorate for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (DSB) has issued a clear encouragement to use safety glasses if you are going to set off fireworks. – It is a small and simple measure, which can save your eyes if an accident occurs. It is important to remember that fireworks are explosive, and even small amounts are enough to cause lifelong damage, says Acting Department Director Brit Skadberg at DSB to NTB. One of the ten injured used safety glasses. Last year, the figure was two out of eleven, according to Bull. – One of those with moderately severe eye damage used safety glasses. Without the safety glasses, the eye damage would have been much worse. He points out that in the last 19 years there have been 284 eye injuries, and that there are also hand injuries, burns, hearing loss and minor injuries. Often, some of the claims are reported in the days after New Year, so that the original claim figure is adjusted up somewhat.
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Eye injuries after fireworks on New Year’s Eve 2023–2024 – ten people injured – news Vestland
