PITTSBURGH — As grills and fireworks fire up for the Fourth of July, doctors at West Penn Hospital are warning families to take extra precautions.
Inside the hospital’s Burn Center, the most severe cases are treated.
“Each one of these holiday seasons brings sort of a different injury list,” Dr. Brett Hertman, the center’s director, said.
Hartman says the Fourth of July is a unique holiday because so many of its traditions carry a risk of burn injury.
“It’s not necessarily just the fireworks — that’s an added component of it. The grilling, the campfire, added with the fireworks, we definitely see a spike."
He says, if you do burn yourself, burn the burn under cool water.
“People look up on the internet, and Google search what they should put on a burned wound. I’ve seen mustard, mayonnaise, honey, toothpaste,” Hartman said, warning against home remedies.
For the more severe cases, you should know when to go to the emergency room.
“We calculate burns by total body surface area percentage. The patient’s hand is about 1%. So, if there’s anything over 5%, we would recommend you be seen if there’s injury to your face, hands, to your eyes...”
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is also urging everyone to be careful over the holiday. The commission says that last year, 13,000 people were injured by fireworks.
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