Booze, Ignorance and Firecrackers: How to Lose Your Hand

Independence Day has yet to be celebrated, but you've probably already heard evidence of people indulging in the holiday's most enduring tradition: setting off fireworks.

That's why Chicago nurse Cheri Steigert wasn't surprised to hear explosions the afternoon of Thursday, June 30. She was surprised, however, when her dog brought home parts of her neighbor's severed hand.

The neighbor lost two fingers after he blew off his hand lighting a firecracker that was apparently equal in power to a half-stick of dynamite, according to CBS Chicago.

If you've heard the booms, cracks and hisses of amateur Fourth of July pyrotechnics, then you know the holiday's second-most enduring tradition will also be rearing its mangled, disfigured head: the horrible-but-avoidable injuries caused by fireworks.

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The Consumer Product Safety Commission conducted a 2105 study of fireworks injuries during the month around Independence Day—June 19 to July 19—and here's what the agency discovered:

• 67 percent of fireworks-related injuries happened during this time
• An average of 260 people went to the emergency room with fireworks-related injuries during that time.

Given those findings and general conventional wisdom concerning the dangers of fireworks, why do people continually injure themselves—in many cases, seriously—by misusing and abusing pyrotechnics?

According to two hospital emergency room doctors Patch spoke with, two elements are usually present in fireworks-related injuries around Independence Day.

1) Lack of Respect for Firecracker Power

Since the prehistoric days of striking pieces of dry flint to ignite sparks, humanity has been fascinated with harnessing fire, as well as the associated loud, noisy explosions.

After all these centuries of successfully taming open flames, though, humankind probably has developed a bit of hubris when dealing with fire. Perhaps that's why, according to Dr. Matthew McCormick of Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, IL, people simply don't understand the magnitude of destructive force they're literally holding in their hands when they pick up an M80 to set off in their back yard.

"Another big mistake I notice is taking a firework and lighting it while they're holding it, thinking they have more time than they do. And the explosion going off in their hand."

The harm caused by miscalculating when the firecracker will explode is rarely minor, says Dr. Daniel Checco, an ER doctor since 1990 who has been working at Silver Cross Hospital since 1995.

"Those are pretty devastating injuries," he said. "People end up losing fingers or the hand is amputated."

What McCormick and Checco describe are all-too-common occurrences. In its study, the CPC found that hands were the most injured body part in fireworks-related accidents, followed closely by the eyes.

It's these types of fireworks-related injuries that McCormick calls "the most unfortunate ones."

"That's obviously very sad," he said. "Those people now are permanently disabled for life. And we've also seen several instances where someone was lighting a firework they were holding, and it went off very quickly, much quicker than they thought it would … and it exploded in their face."

But the user isn't always the only person who can be hurt in fireworks mishaps.

"I've been seeing with a lot of adolescent or high school kids, they'll have bottle rocket fights," Checco said. "They'll actually shoot the bottle rockets at each other. That's not smart to do that."

This YouTube video from 2015 shows a group of Detroit kids in the midst of that type of faux-fight. The video was posted with this explanation: "We Was Bored And Decided To Have An Roman Candle Fight On 4th Of July":

In Chicago that same year, police were called to break up this bottle rocket battle that spread into neighborhood streets. Although it was originally thought to be a war between rival gangs, authorities and some witnesses described the teens shooting fiery projectiles with destructive potential at one another as playful (Editor's note: The video contains vulgar language heard in the distance):

In cases like this, McCormick says he's even seen "innocent bystanders"—people who had nothing to do with the individuals or groups setting off the firecrackers—injured by an errant bottle rocket or Roman candle.

2) Alcohol

The other element McCormick and Checco see associated with fireworks injuries shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

It's alcohol, which has a long history of ruining some of society's favorite activities: driving, sex, texting.

"Not only are fireworks very dangerous, but the mixture of fireworks and alcohol is a deadly combination," McCormick said.

"I think the biggest factor—and I'm going to be honest—I see with people who come in with these serious injuries, are adults who are drinking," Checco said. "The alcohol impairs your sensorium to a certain extent where your reaction time is a lot different. Your judgment is way off."

Checco says he's seen multiple cases where intoxicated individuals stuff Roman candles into larger pipes, then light the fuse and wait. The impaired judgment kicks in when there's no explosion.

"All of a sudden, it doesn't seem like it's working. 'Let me take a look down in the pipe and see what's happening.' Boom! Right in their face!"

PHOTO: "Yojimbo" (Toho Studios)

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