title: [Stop the annual firework disaster--a plea for medical scientific associations to take a clear-cut position].
abstract: Every year people sustain serious injuries when they let off fireworks on New Year's Eve. Public education and protective eye wear do not solve this problem. Experience from other countries shows that the number of injuries decreases dramatically when fireworks are handled only by experienced specialists. Medical scientific associations are invited to promote a ban on ordinary citizens letting off fireworks and for fireworks to be reserved for firework specialists only.
authors.affiliation: Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht, afd. Oogheelkunde, divisie Heelkundige Specialismen, Utrecht, The Netherlands. j.stilma@umcutrecht.nl
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Stilma
mesh_terms: D001753:Blast Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005107:Explosions / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control; D006693:Holidays; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands; D024382:Professional Role; D011634:Public Health / Q000193:education*; D012955:Societies, Medical