Dr Dinuksha De Silva¹, Dr Aruna Wijewardena¹, Dr Tim Wang¹, Dr Jeon Cha¹

¹Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, Australia

Abstract:

Background

Due to the recognised health and safety risks, most Australian states and territories have prohibited the sale and handling of fireworks. However, consumer sale of sparklers remains legal due to their classification as “shopgoods” fireworks.1 Sparklers are made from steel wire dipped in a pyrotechnic slurry, which burns at temperatures of up to 1100°C and remains hot once the sparkling has ceased.2 Both contact burns and flame burns (related to ignition of clothing from sparks) have been reported secondary to sparkler use.

Case Series

We present a series of five sparkler-related burns treated at Royal North Shore Hospital in a five month period from January to May 2022. All burns were sustained on the patients’ dominant hands, with an average total body surface area of less than 1%. All cases were managed in an outpatient setting.

Conclusion

This study reminds us of the potential for burn injury resulting from sparkler use. The unusually high frequency of sparkler burns during the review period suggests that there has been a prevalence of improper use in New South Wales, or that the safety information on sparkler packaging is insufficient. We suggest here some simple tips for preventing sparkler-related injury, which may be used to standardise safety recommendations and guide educational campaigns.

References

1. Van den Boogaard CJ, Wallis BA, Kimble RM. 2008. ‘Sparkler burns and the potential for serious injury in children.’ J Burn Care Res, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 679–680. https://doi.org/10.1097/ BCR.0b013e31817db9bc
2. Ricciardello D, Yang NK, Chamberlain K, Holland AJA. 2021. ‘Firework and sparkler burns in paediatric patients.’ Australas J Plast Surg, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 30–34. https://doi. org/10.34239/ajops.v4n1.240

Biography:

Dinuksha is an unaccredited registrar in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Royal North Shore Hospital.