The Supreme Court’s ban on sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR may not have had the desired impact on air quality, but major hospitals in the national Capital reported fewer burn cases this Diwali, than last year.
The Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital and RMl Hospital, both of which have big burn units, received 66 and 29 patients respectively. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) did not receive any burn cases on Thursday night, doctors said.
Safdarjung Hospital had received 110 burn patients last Diwali, a senior doctor said. “Out of the 66 patients, who came between 6 pm on Thursday to 6 am on Friday, 50 had suffered burns during Diwali-related festivities. Five of them were admitted,” he said.
At the Ram Manohar lohia Hospital, in Central Delhi, a lesser number of people came to the casualty wards with burns, as compared to 79 patients last year.
“Since Thursday evening till 10 am on Friday morning, 23 men and five women with burn injuries, mainly related to hands and eyes, were attended to in the casualty department. Only one man, who had suffered 27 per cent burns was admitted,” Medical Superintendent of the RMl Hospital, Dr VK Tiwari, said.
Many doctors said the ban on sale of crackers may have contributed to less number of burn cases reported at hospitals this year. The Delhi Government’s largest hospital, the lNJP Hospital also received just ten patients.
“Only four of them needed admission, the extent of burns ranged from 10 per cent in one patient to 60 per cent in another. None had eye injuries, but only facial burns, lNJP Hospital’s Medical Superintendent JC Passey said.
Authorities at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said that its casualty unit received 15 cases of burn injuries during the night, ten of whom were adults and five children. Two patients with severe burn injuries have been operated and the rest discharged. Four patients with breathing difficulty also came to the casualty department.
St Stephen’s Hospital did not report a single burn-related case on Diwali night. “We usually get 15-20 cases every year. But, this time the firecracker ban may have helped reduce the number,” a senior official at the hospital said.