Today is celebrated the night of San Juan, and many will take the opportunity to go outside to enjoy watching artificial games, or get excited watching the 'correfocs' jump between sparklers, and hidden under hoods with demon horns. Fire also symbolizes purity, and is used since antiquity to indicate natural cycles. Summer will have been three days since it started, but tonight it will be as if I were doing it again.
However, a series of recommendations to avoid injuries, these tips could serve to complete the ones we offered about a year ago at the beginning of the summer (which is when there is a more widespread use of firecrackers, flares and fireworks, due to the concentration of popular and local festivals).
But above all we are going to focus today on the prevention of eye injuries, without neglecting the most general precautions
More of the injuries caused by fireworks and similar, are burns (in the United States the percentage is 65 percent), and almost half of the people affected by these practices are under five to 14 years old, preferably between five and nine. The insistence on preventing the most inappropriate consequences of unsupervised children 'playing' with firecrackers, getting too close to 'correfocs' or crossing safe limits to observe fireworks is thus understood.
Recently we returned to elaborate a complete information on the occasion of the Fallas of Valencia, but in my opinion I consider that these articles must fulfill a more conscientious function than 'informer' as far as if we do not change our perception of risk, it is of little use to be told (for example) that a firecracker that has already been lit should not be reused, even if we see it whole.
Prevent eye injuries
Always convenient stay within the security perimeter set by the organizers of a fireworks castle. When observing the path of 'beasts of fire' and demons with flares, we must be very careful, not letting the children carried by curiosity get too close. The protagonists have received training on fire management, and are properly equipped, our children come with pants and short shirts that are often made of easily flammable fabrics.
There are visual health professionals who advise wear visor caps (which would stop burning particles), including goggles. Exposure to smoke fires can inflame the conjunctiva, and cause a lot of discomfort, to avoid this it is better to keep distance, or buy artificial tears solution in the pharmacy, in order to counteract the dryness.
Keep in mind that injuries from bonfires, fireworks or firecrackers usually occur mostly in the area of the head and hands
Any pyrotechnic article can be potentially dangerous if it is misused or care is not taken in the approach, even the flares that are sometimes covered with a myth of safety. The lesions are caused by bruises or lacerations, and can lead to conjunctivitis, permanent scars, third degree burns and even blindness.
So the recommendation is to review all the articles we have published about it, and be very cautious. At the same time it is more than convenient limit the use of these products to children based on their age and maturation. And please, do not underestimate a child who complains of the eyes after you have attended one of the Bonfires of San Juan tonight, the correct reaction is to attend a health center.
Images | Sören, Gerard Reyes In Peques and More | The night of San Juan is celebrated in many places with fire, offering activities suitable for the whole family, Considerations on the safety of children inside the home (II): prevention of electric shock and burns
