A total of 15 patients, 13 men and two women, who were injured by the firecrackers, came to the Advance Eye Centre, PGIMER for treatment in the last 24 hours. Of these, six are children, the youngest of whom is eight years old. Ten patients were standing while five were bursting crackers.
There are five patients from the tricity (Chandigarh three, Mohali two), while 10 are from the neighboring states of Punjab (four), Haryana (four), Himachal (one) and Rajasthan (one). Rockets and various types of bombs resulted in injuries in 12 patients. A total of 12 patients will require surgical intervention, nine of them with severe open-world injuries, while three patients will require minor surgical procedures. All patients have unilateral injuries and nine have already been operated on and three are currently undergoing surgery.
“Compared to last year, this year there are less cases of eye injuries due to bursting of crackers on Diwali. Last year we had 27 and this year we had 15 patients. There are five cases from the tricity, of which three are from Chandigarh, and the rest from other states,” said Prof SS Pandav, head, Advanced Eye Centre, PGIMER.
There are reports of burns of three patients at the Advanced Trauma Center. Of the three, 26-year-old Siddharth, with about 25% burns (involving chest and arms) has been admitted to the burn ward in Block A of Nehru Hospital and his condition is stable.
Four patients reported to the Department of Plastic Surgery while lighting candles, with two major thermal burns (25% and 70%). Both the patients are being closely monitored in the burn ICU. Another young patient suffered serious hand injuries when it exploded while holding a firecracker. Similarly, a patient suffered a deep wound in the thigh and hand due to bursting of firecrackers. Both these patients are also under close observation and will require multiple surgeries over the next few days.
24 cases of minor burns registered in GMSH-16
Emergency at GMSH-16 was busy dealing with the regular emergency cases on Diwali night as well as the cases due to firecrackers. A total of 98 patients were treated in the hospital. There were 37 cases of road accidents and 24 cases of minor burns. Around 24 cases of scuffle with minor injuries in emergency were sent back home after treatment. Four cases of eye injuries in emergency were also reported. One case of wound on the neck in emergency and one case of abdominal injury with eight months of pregnancy and one case of cellulose poisoning was also reported.
Two cases of eye injury, one case of cellulose poisoning and one case of wound near little finger amputation for plastic surgery were referred to PGI for further management. UT Health Secretary Yashpal Garg and his wife visited GMSH-16, GMCH-32, Sector-22, 45, ESI Ramdarbar and Civil Hospital at Manimajra on Diwali night to greet the employees on the occasion. Garg said that he was glad to see that they were all taking care of the patients with full devotion and added that he saw huge crowd at GMSH-16 and Manimajra on Diwali night.
Report of 21 patients of firecracker injury in GMCH
A total of 21 patients visited GMCH 32, Chandigarh with cracker injury on Diwali (14 November). Of these patients, 4 were from Chandigarh, 11 from Punjab and three from Haryana and the rest Himachal Pradesh. Eight patients had eye injuries, one ear and the rest had burn injuries.
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