Sight & Hearing Association

Newsletter - Summer 2002

Play it safe this Fourth of July; leave pyrotechnics to pros

Jody Eder-Zdechlik remembers the Fourth of July when she was 2. In fact, every day this resident of Lakeland, Minn., is reminded of it. It was on that fateful holiday that a bottle rocket shot into her eye and blinded her.

"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Jody said. "Just an innocent bystander, but in the direct path of the bottle rocket."

She was celebrating the Independence Day holiday at a family gathering. Like many Fourth of July parties, relatives were shooting off fireworks. Someone put a bottle rocket in a pop bottle and tipped the bottle; the rocket shot directly into her eye. Four surgeries couldn't save her vision. Today, she has a prosthetic right eye and wears polycarbonate glasses to protect her other eye.

Jody, now 38, represents one of thousands of Americans injured by fireworks each year. And, like Jody, not all victims happen to be the person setting them off. In fact, 40 percent of fireworks injuries are to innocent bystanders. Bottle rockets, which can move as fast as 200 mph, account for nearly 75 percent of injuries.

Since 1941, fireworks have been illegal in Minnesota. That changed this spring, when the Legislature passed a bill legalizing the sale and use of sparklers, glow worms and other nonexplosive, nonaerial fireworks. The bill's sponsors had hoped to legalize a complete range of consumer fireworks, including firecrackers and bottle rockets. But opposition, especially in the Senate, forced them to scale back. Supporters plan on returning in future legislative sessions to try and legalize more fireworks.

"Many people think playing with fireworks is fun," said Robert Mittra, M.D., an ophthalmologist with VitreoRetinal Surgery and medical director of the Minnesota Eye Injury Registry. "But what they don't realize is just how dangerous fireworks truly are."

Jody agrees.

"I still avoid fireworks. I don't even go to the big fireworks displays that the city puts on," Jody said. "You often hear people say they thought it could never happen to them. Well, freak accidents do happen. I'm proof of that."

Fireworks facts

Approximately 8,500 Americans are treated in emergency rooms each year for fireworks-related injuries. Of these, it is estimated that 20 percent are eye injuries.

As many as 400 Americans lose vision in one or both eyes each year because of eye injuries caused by fireworks.

Children, 16 years and younger, account for 60 percent of fireworks eye injuries in the United States.

80 percent of fireworks injuries occur around the Fourth of July holiday, between June 29 and July 5.

More than 40 percent of injuries happen to bystanders.

By far, the most dangerous type of firework is the bottle rocket. The bottle rocket flies erratically, frequently injuring bystanders, and the bottle or cans used to launch them often explode, showering fragments of glass or metal in all directions.

Sparklers burn at 1,800 F (hot enough to melt gold) and cause third degree burns.

The typical victim is a male, ages 13-15, at home with a group of friends, no adults present. The typical firework is a bottle rocket, which leads to severe eye damage. The treatment is immediate surgical intervention; multiple follow-up surgeries. The probable outcome: permanent visual loss; frequently, loss of an eye.

Out in the community

The Sight & Hearing Association participated in a number of community screenings this spring. We coordinated free hearing screenings statewide for International Noise Awareness Day. This year, we had 25 screening sites in the Twin Cities metro area Bemidji, Brainerd, Faribault, International Falls, Marshall, Moorhead, Northfield, Rochester, St. Cloud, Walker and Willmar. We held two corporate screenings for employees of the City of Richfield and Cummings Power in Fridley. Sight & Hearing Association offered glaucoma and visual acuity screening at the Lutheran Educators Convocation and Medica's Speaking of Women's Health Conference, both held at the Minneapolis Convention Center. In addition, we offered glaucoma screening at two senior events: a health fair at Friendship Village in Bloomington and the Good Age Senior Health and Wellness Fair at the Mall of America. Overall, we screened more than 1,000 adults in three short months.

International Noise Awareness Day - Hearing screening: 200, Total referred: 87

City of Richfield
Glaucoma screening: 88
Glaucoma referrals: 10
Hearing screening: 117
Hearing referrals: 16
Acuity screened: 88
Acuity referrals: 7 Cummings Power
Glaucoma screening: 35
Glaucoma referrals: 1
Acuity screened: 35
Acuity referrals: 10 Lutheran Educators Convocation
Glaucoma screening: 139
Glaucoma referrals: 5
Acuity screened: 190
Acuity referrals: 77

Speaking of Women's Health Conference
Glaucoma screening: 79
Glaucoma referrals: 11
Acuity screened: 98
Acuity referrals: 26 Friendship Village
Glaucoma screening: 20
Glaucoma referrals: 17 Senior Health and Wellness Fair
Glaucoma screening: 46
Glaucoma referrals: 22

MPLS.ST.PAUL Magazine focuses on sight and hearing

Look for a special section focused on sight and hearing in the August issue of MPLS.ST.PAUL Magazine. For the fifth year, MPLS.ST.PAUL and the Sight & Hearing Association are partnering to produce the section, which will feature articles on hearing aids, tinnitus, cataracts and macular degeneration. MPLS.ST.PAUL is the leading lifestyle magazine in the region. Starkey Laboratories, a hearing aid manufacturer based in Eden Prairie, is the financial sponsor of this project.

Pick up a copy of the magazine on newsstands the end of July. Or, for a free copy of the section, please call the Sight & Hearing Association at 651/645-2546, ext. 16.

Child receives new glasses thanks to voucher project

Four-year-old Darian Rice loves her new, pink glasses. Thanks to the Sight & Hearing Association's Vision Voucher Project for Kids, she received those pink glasses for free.

The Vision Voucher Project offers a free eye exam and eyeglasses to uninsured children who are screened through our program. Since the program's debut last year, the Sight & Hearing Association has distributed more than 750 vouchers.

Before she was screened at Cherish the Children in Minneapolis, Darian started exhibiting signs of a potential vision problem. "She was squinting, blinking a lot and sitting real close to the television," said Darla, Darian's mom.

Screeners from the Sight & Hearing Association found her vision was 20/70 in her right eye and 20/40 in her left, with a slight misalignment of the eyes. Darian was referred and diagnosed with astigmatism and amblyopia, commonly called lazy eye. If left untreated, amblyopia leads to vision loss in the weaker eye. To help correct the amblyopia, the doctor prescribed glasses.

The first time she put on her new, pink glasses, Darian exclaimed, " I can see everything now! I can see really far."

For more information about our Preschool Screening Program or the Vision Voucher Project for Kids, call Kathy Webb at 651/645-2546, ext. 18.

Dine or Dash: A noise review of restaurants

How many times have you been out to eat and found yourself raising your voice to talk over the clatter and chatter? If you have a noisy restaurant you would like the "noise patrol" to check out, please call Julee Sylvester at 651/645-2546, ext. 12.

Location: Fuddrucker's, Coon Rapids
Type of food: Hamburger joint
Time of day: 5 p.m. on a Friday
Duration of stay: One hour

Atmosphere: High ceilings open to rafters and duct work. Fun memorabilia on walls and hanging from the ceiling. Arcade in rear of restaurant.

What the decibel level means: Easy to talk; not harmful to hearing.

The main dish: The restaurant is very kid-friendly and can get quite busy around dinner time. My guess is that if we would have stayed through the 7 o'clock hour, the noise level would have increased significantly. Once food is ordered at the counter, names are announced over a loudspeaker. Each time a name was called, the dB level increased by five.

Were you able to talk at a normal conversation level or did you have to raise your voice? Normal conversation level.

Rating on a scale of one to four bells (with one being quiet and four being noisy): 2 bells

Would you recommend this restaurant as conversation-friendly? Yes, at least at the time we went.