Jharkhand sees dip in burn cases on Diwali, but rise in road accidents

Ranchi: Burn cases recorded a dip while road accidents saw a sharp rise during Diwali this year, statistics available with the state 108 ambulance services showed on Tuesday.On Monday, seven burn patients and their kin summoned an ambulance to get to the nearest medical facility for treatment.

The number, officials said, was encouragingly low from last year, when 22 such cases were reported.

The decline, officials said, could be an outcome of greater public awareness and advisories issued by the administration which led to cautious use of firecrackers.“In total, 850 patients were ferried from their homes to the hospitals across the state on Monday,” Sumit Basu, the president of Samman Foundation which runs the ambulance service, said.Among them were cases of pregnancy, road accidents and other medical emergencies. Even then, the number was lower, as the 108 ambulance service ferries up to 1,100 patients daily. “However, the number of burn injury cases catered by the 108 ambulances across the state has dropped drastically, reporting only seven cases across the state. The number is even less than burn injury-related cases reported on normal days.

On average, around 10-12 burn injury-related cases get reported on normal days,” Basu told TOI.While lesser burn cases came as a silver lining for the authorities, a rise in road accidents remained a cause of concern. On Monday, 270 people, hurt in road accidents statewide, were ferried to hospitals. “A total of 175 road accident cases were reported on Diwali last year,” Basu said.At Ranchi’s Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, doctors said public awareness on cautious use of crackers during festivities is increasing. Dr D K Sinha, head of the institute’s surgery department, said, “Four to five cases of minor burn injuries were reported at the department on Monday. Last year also, the number of cases was like that during Diwali. The numbers have drastically gone that in last two-three years, owing to awareness among people on safe celebration of Diwali.

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