Leave fireworks to pros, doctors say
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![Fireworks at Music in Plymouth, 2009](https://img.apmcdn.org/671d4bfd55075fcd3d3ddb1e459baf5b8b3c5a95/uncropped/e68878-20100629-fireworks2.jpg)
Minnesota's largest doctor group says the public should leave shooting fireworks to the professionals.
"On average 200 people go to the emergency room every day with fireworks-related injuries in the month surrounding the Fourth of July, from mid-June to mid-July," said Minnesota Medical Association President Cindy Firkins Smith. "his is the appropriate time to really start educating people about those risks.
A recent report by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates nationally there were more than 11,400 injuries caused by fireworks last year-- up more than 30 percent, or 8,700, the year before. A third of those injuries were caused by sparklers.
The report also says that half of all fireworks-related injuries treated by emergency departments were to individuals younger than 20 years old.
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