The sound of celebratory explosions will soon fill the air for the 230th celebration of Independence Day.
However, if it is within the city limits of Excelsior Springs, those celebratory bangs, crackles and screeches are… illegal.
Section 230.765, paragraph A of the city code of Excelsior Spring states “No person shall within the City sell, offer for sale, expose for sale, use, possess, discharge or explode any form of fireworks.”
Each year the Excelsior Springs Police Department responds to dozens of complaints of people in violation of the ordinance.
The ordinance is in place to protect public safety.
Each year about 10,000 people seek emergency room treatment from fireworks related incidents. The biggest sufferer of injuries are males between the ages of 22-45, children ages 5-9 are number two on the list.
The two most common injuries are to the hands 36 percent and to the head, 38 percent, about half are eye injuries.
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology there are several steps to take in the event of an eye injury due to fireworks.
They include:
• Seek medical attention immediately.
• Do not rub your eyes.
• Do not rinse your eyes.
• Do not apply pressure.
• Do not remove any objects that are stuck in the eye.
• Do not apply ointments or take any blood-thinning pain medications such as aspirin or ibuprofen.
The group also does not recommend small children to play with fireworks at all, including sparklers.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission annual report states that eighty percent of injuries to children under 5 and 30 percent of children between 6-14 are caused by sparklers, which accounted for the greatest percentage of injuries when broken down by type of firework. About 20 percent of injuries are the result of sparklers, while reloadable tubes came in at No. 2 at 10 percent of emergency room visits.
-Bryce Mereness