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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 2:59 p.m., Saturday, July 5, 2008

Only one Fourth of July fireworks injury reported

Advertiser Staff

The city Emergency Services Department treated only one injury overnight directly attributable to Fourth of July fireworks use, said department spokesman Bryan Cheplic.

Cheplic said a man in his late teens or early 20s walked into the Waialua ambulance station, at 66-420 Haleiwa Road, at 2:24 a.m. this morning seeking treatment to injuries on his hands that were due to fireworks use.

The man was treated for minor injuries at the ambulance station and did not have to be taken to a hospital, Cheplic said.

"We still have the rest of the weekend to go, but if we can get the public to continue to cooperate (in terms of fireworks safety), it will be a good holiday weekend for us," Cheplic said. "We have two more days to go."

By way of comparison, five fireworks-related injuries were reported this past New Year's Eve, Cheplic said.

The overall EMS workload was about the same as usual for EMS with more than 200 calls for paramedics services not related to the use of fireworks.

Those calls included responding to motor vehicle crashes, assaults, difficulty breathing, cardiac problems and other "typical calls," Cheplic said.

A report on the number of fireworks-related calls the Honolulu Fire Department responded to is expected to be released later today.