By The Star Staff
The emergency room at Centro Médico received 10 cases on Sunday, New Year’s Eve, and into the early hours of New Year’s Day, five due to injuries from fireworks and another five reportedly due to wounds sustained from stray bullets.
As reported by Dr. Israel Ayala, medical director of the Puerto Rico Medical Services Administration (ASEM), in a written statement issued Monday, “of the five injured only one claims to have been [wounded due to] bullets fired into the air.”
“This case is in the investigation stage and is yet to be confirmed,” the official added. “With these figures we can deduce that the campaign against bullets in the air continues to yield results, but we must not let our guard down. The goal should be to continue educating the public to eliminate this practice.”
Regarding the burning of gunpowder and fireworks, Ayala specified that “from Christmas Eve 2023 until today, a total of eight patients were registered.”
“Meanwhile, in the approximate period of 24 hours, referring to New Year’s Eve and the early morning of New Year’s, a total of 94 patients due to various medical conditions who arrived at our Emergency Room were referred either from other hospital institutions or directly from their homes,” he said.
The physician noted that holiday season festivities go on in Puerto Rico and called for continuing to celebrate with prudence. “The celebrations of Three Kings Day, the Octavitas and the San Sebastián Street Festivities are approaching and at these events the consumption of alcoholic beverages is higher, so I urge you, to avoid tragedies, if you are going to consume alcohol, hand over the keys,” Ayala said.
In the period from Dec. 24 to Dec. 31, 2023, meanwhile, the number of car accidents reached 35 cases, along with 17 accidents involving motorcycles.