In view of the dramatic situation in many German clinics, the FDP and the Greens in the Bundestag warn of further exposure to New Year’s Eve firecrackers. “Although I understand the appeal of fireworks well, I think that we simply cannot afford injuries from firecrackers at the moment and should generally save better,” said health policy spokesman for the Greens parliamentary group, Janosch Dahmen, of “Welt”.
In view of the many serious injuries caused by New Year’s Eve firecrackers in recent years, he has often asked himself whether it is worth “that we in Germany accept such dangers from firecrackers and fireworks due to the largely unregulated use that has been common for decades,” said the doctor . “At the moment, this question is all the more urgent because the entire emergency medicine and rescue services are already under extreme pressure due to a large shortage of staff and numerous serious respiratory diseases.” However, Dahmen did not make an explicit demand for a ban on the sale and private use of fireworks on New Year’s Eve.
FDP sees responsibility in municipalities
The health policy spokeswoman for the FDP parliamentary group, Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus, considers a general ban on firecrackers to be “not appropriate”. However, she is open to municipalities designating zones where fireworks are not allowed on New Year’s Eve. “Of course, cities and municipalities should continue to decide whether a partial ban on fireworks makes sense” – for example in busy places or in historic old towns.
According to the German Hospital Society, the ban on firecrackers in the Corona years 2020 and 2021 relieved the hospitals: “During the time of the ban on firecrackers, the clinics registered around two-thirds fewer inpatient cases with injuries caused by fireworks,” said Gerald, CEO of the German Hospital Society Gass, the “world”. “The emergency rooms were correspondingly less busy.” But now one assumes “that we will have to treat a similar number of firework-related injuries on this New Year’s night as in the years before Corona”. Gass emphasized that bans are not effective in compensating for bottlenecks.
Other critics of fireworks – including environmental organizations – also complain about the high level of fine dust pollution, the amount of waste and the stress on animals.
