Firework related burn injuries in Australia and New Zealand

Introduction

Fireworks are commonly used to celebrate holidays and events with potential to impact livelihoods from blast injuries. This study aims to describe and analyse firework related burns in adults across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ).

Methods

A retrospective review from January 2010 – January 2023 across all ANZ adult burns units. All firework related burn injuries in adults greater than 18 years that attended or were referred to the burns unit were included.

Results

There were 173 patients with a firework related burn injury. The male to female ratio was 4.4:1 with the majority representing a younger age group (18–45 years). Men were significantly more likely to have firework related injuries at home and /or outside than women (49.3 % vs 24.2 %, p = 0.009). There were 29 firecrackers, 44 sparklers, and 99 firework burn injuries with significant differences in proportions between states for sparklers and fireworks. The mean TBSA was 4.3 % with significant differences amongst sex (men 4.7 % vs women 2.0 %, p = 0.042) and amongst states. Adequate first aid was reported higher in men than women (61.4 % vs 42.4 %, p = 0.047). Approximately half the injuries were hands and a third of injuries involved more than one body part. The most frequent type of injury was a full thickness burn (39.6 %), followed by mid dermal (24.1 %) and superficial (23.0 %) respectively.

Conclusions

Firework related burns have distinct patterns of use and injuries amongst men and women with variations across states. Legislation and prevention are cornerstone to reducing the impact of burn related injuries.