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| This post was peer reviewed. Click to learn more. |
Author: Gregory Jasani, PGY-2
University of Maryland School of Medicine Department of
Emergency Medicine
INTRODUCTION
Whether through an accident or intentional act, explosions have the potential to cause injuries to many people at the same time, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality and potentially overwhelming local healthcare resources. The resulting blast injuries are something that all emergency medicine providers need to be able to promptly recognize and treat.
Blast injuries are unfortunately not uncommon. In 2014, there were over 10,000 blast injuries in the United States due to fireworks. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, detonation of bombs or incendiary devices caused over 4,000 injuries and 448 deaths in the United States between 1987 and 1997.
