Fireworks may be a traditional part of your Fourth of July celebration, but unfortunately, there are stories of fireworks taking a dangerous turn. There’s a simple solution: Wear safety glasses when lighting fireworks or standing nearby.
Free safety glasses are available to the public and can be picked up at select Nebraska Medicine locations throughout the Omaha metro beginning Wednesday, June 26.
“Fireworks can generate a lot of injuries specific to the eye that can be serious because they are high-velocity explosives that burn at a very high temperature,” says Rao Chundury, MD, assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and ophthalmologist and oculoplastic specialist with Nebraska Medicine.
This year, 5,000 safety glasses were donated by Eye on July, a 501(c)3 non-profit created by the Chundury family with the goal of promoting eye safety in Nebraska. Each summer, doctors at Truhlsen Eye Institute see many firework-related eye injuries, such as burns or retinal detachments, that could have been prevented with safety glasses.
Pick up glasses at the following locations. Limit one pair per person while supplies last.
- Truhlsen Eye Institute, 3902 Leavenworth St.
Monday through Friday, 7:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Truhlsen Eye Institute at Village Pointe Health Center, 110 N. 175th St.
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. - Chalco Health Center, 8343 S. 168th Ave.
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 to 9:45 p.m. Weekends, 10 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. - Family Medicine at Bellevue Health Center, 2510 Bellevue Medical Center Drive, Suite 200
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 to 9:45 p.m. Weekends, 10 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. - Fontanelle Health Center, 5005 Ames Ave.
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Papillion Health Center, 249 Olson Drive, Suite 111
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Can’t get to Omaha…bummer