K-STATE EXTENSION SPECIALIST OFFERS FIREWORKS SAFETY TIPS

MANHATTAN -- To keep your children safe this Fourth of July, Mike Bradshaw, an extension specialist in health and safety at Kansas State University, offers some fireworks safety tips for parents.

* Parents sometimes overestimate their children's ability to use fireworks. Make sure there is always adult supervision when children are lighting fireworks.

* Read the directions and warning labels when you're purchasing the fireworks, and also read the instructions when you start lighting the fireworks. If a device is not marked with the contents, directions and a warning label, do not light it.

* Buy fireworks that are appropriate for the age of the child. For younger children you may want to start out with "worms" and "smoke bombs." Read the label and use common sense.

* Sparklers are one of the most hazardous types of fireworks. They are almost hot enough to melt gold, so burnt fingers or hands are common occurrences. There is also the potential for a young child to wave a sparkler around and stick it in the eye of another child or poke themselves.

* Understand fireworks fuses. Many people believe that fuses burn for a long time, but in truth, many explode three to six seconds after being lighted.

* Good locations to light fireworks are large, flat surfaces away from homes or buildings. Never light fireworks indoors or near dry grass, and always have a bucket of water and/or a fire extinguisher nearby.

* Fireworks-related injuries usually involve the hands, the fingers, the eyes and the head. Burns are the most common injuries, followed by actual explosions causing bruises and lacerations. There are also a number of eye injuries, blindness being one of the more serious results.

* Approximately 10,000 fireworks-related injuries are reported in the United States each year. However, the injury rates are going down with more states outlawing certain types of fireworks.

* If you want to avoid buying fireworks, take the children to a fireworks display where the public service people control the fireworks in a safe environment.

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July 1998