Zero firecracker-related injuries in Ormoc, Baybay and S. Leyte

CEBU, Philippines - All four hospitals in Ormoc City registered zero firecracker-related injuries up to New Year’s Eve, similar to the reported situation in Baybay City, all in the western part of Leyte, as well as in Southern Leyte province.

Ormoc City assistant health officer Maria Lourdes Lampong said this record of no injuries indicated the success of the government’s anti-firecracker drive and that people now were opting for a safer way of welcoming the New Year.

The hospitals in this city are the Ormoc District Hospital, Gatchalian Hospital, the OSPA-Farmer’s Medical Center and the Ormoc Maternity and Children’s Hospital.

A different story however occurred in Tacloban City at the Department of Health’s sentinel  hospital Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center.

A certain Tiudolo Fernandez, 76-year-old resident of Kassel Homes Subdivision suffered firecracker injuries on his two fingers from piccolo. He was the fourth victim of firecracker injuries reported in Eastern Visayas from Dec. 21 to Dec. 31.

The first case was an 11-year-old boy in Brgy. Santo Nino in Tanauan, Leyte who sustained corneal abrasion on both eyes when he peeped through the improvised “cannon”made from bamboo---called “lantaka” in the local dialect---to verify why it did not explode. It however exploded while he was peeping through it.

The second was a 9-month-old baby boy in Barangay E. Jaro in Babatngon, Leyte. He suffered burns and blisters in the chin and shoulder after a piccolo thrown by a group of boys exploded. The third victim was a 10-year-old boy in Tacloban City whose right hand was injured after a Piccolo he lit exploded prematurely.

The number of injuries in this year's New Year's Eve celebration in the region was a great improvement than in the past years, of which there were 22 in 2010 and eight in 2011.