Children waving sparklers at dusk. A cacophony of firecrackers. Guests reveling over amateur fountains of color. What's Independence Day without a few sparklers and bottle rockets?

The fact is, few think of backyard fireworks for what they really are -- essentially the same weaponry used in military battles, capable of inflicting the same kind of damage.

An estimated 21,000 people went to emergency rooms in 2007 because of fireworks injuries, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

Take it from a hand surgeon, who has seen mangled fingers and lifelong disability result from a split second decision gone wrong. Take it from an optometrist who has seen kids lose an eye.

The two doctors hope that details about what they've seen on their operating table and in their examination chairs will have partygoers thinking twice about what they do with fireworks and prevent them from being placed in the hands of any child.

Doctors on front lines of fireworks injuries say fun never worth the risk

Independence Day for a hand surgeon can be as grueling as tax time for an accountant.

Dr. Aaron Anderson, a hand and upper extremity surgeon with Lakeshore Bone and Joint Institute in Chesterton, recalls past Fourth of July weekends that had him up for 36 hours straight, operating on hands that got in the way of a firework gone awry.

While examining his patients, regretful about their mishandling or simply devastated by a fluke occurrence, he learns details about how it happened. Hand launching a firecracker, a mortar getting stuck in a pipe clogged with soot and exploding before launch, and going back to re-light a "dud" are common stories.

Anderson says people underestimate how powerful a firework really is. After all, they are made of the same material used in bombs. And they behave so unpredictably, that even taking a course in fireworks safety as he did is not reliable insurance against the lifelong ramifications of a split second of fun.

"Something as simple as a bottle rocket can cause permanent loss of the use of your hand," he says.

He's seen it too many times.

"Most of them are blast-type injuries to the hand and arm from small type things such as small abrasions and burns to massive type injuries where the entire hand is blown up and extreme cases where they lose their entire arm, hand, or even, in the most extreme cases," he says, "some people I've taken care of have lost their life from fireworks injuries."

He says a blast to the hand, with its multiple tendons, nerves and vessels close to the skin, is complicated, almost always involving injury to the bone and requiring multiple surgeries involving pins, plates, screws and even skin grafting.

And the devastation doesn't stop there. Months of therapy is usually necessary to regain any mobility, which is often so limiting, it can cost you your job. A laborer, for example, may never work again.

Optometrist Dr. Phillip Kaufman, who resides in Munster and practices in Crete and Mokena, has spent much of his career educating folks about the damage fireworks can inflict to the eye. He has been known to blow up eyeball-sized fruit to demonstrate the damage he has actually seen.

The most frequent and most severe fireworks-related injuries he has seen involve kids and sparklers. During the past 10 years, Kaufman says he's seen 35 to 40 sparkler injuries in kids.

What happens to the eye when it gets too close to a sparkler or other firework, runs the gamut. Cataracts, retinal detachment, corneal burns and scratches, glaucoma and debris in the eye are just a few things that can go wrong.

The tip of a lit sparkler is about 2,000 degrees and can cause burns so severe, they just won't heal, requiring a corneal transplant or removal of the eye, Kaufman says.

"When the metal rod burns off and at night it's difficult to see the end of that metal rod. These kids swing that metal rod around. ... If they hit somebody in the eye, the minimum it's going to do is scratch and the worse it can do is lacerate the eye," he said.

Often, it's an innocent bystander who suffers from someone else's carelessness.

The worst sparkler injury he's seen is a 5-year-old who was handed a three-foot sparkler, nearly bigger than him. He waved it too close to his brother, who ended up with a severe scratch to the cornea. An injury like that, Kaufman says, can take 10 days to deal and comes with an unspeakable amount of pain.

Two years ago, Kaufman witnessed a case in which a small bottle rocket penetrated a child's cornea and then exploded.

"We don't think of these things as being dangerous because we don't think of the gun powder load that is in them as being very big," Kaufman says. "If they shoot straight up, they aren't dangerous, but if they shoot laterally, they are."

Seeing fireworks injuries firsthand has driven Kaufman to speak nationally about eye safety.

"I think it's extremely important because I think it's totally unnecessary to have kids blinded by the carelessness of adults," he says.

Anderson has a pet peeve about not taking fireworks dangers seriously. He notes in particular, television shows featuring people shooting off fireworks from various body parts.

"The problem is that culture presents as if nothing ever goes wrong. You can do all these crazy things and all these guys are OK and that's just not true," he says. "The culture I see is the real people that come in with blown off hands and limbs and their entire life is changed and altered forever. All they wish is if they could go back to that day and not do that."

To avoid becoming a statistic, Anderson says a firework should never be launched from your hand, make sure they are on a stable platform, check launch tubes regularly to make sure they are not getting sticky and clogged with soot, make sure there is a safe distance between the launcher and the spectators and that everyone is paying attention.

He reminds that alcohol and fireworks never mix and that children should never do anything with fireworks.

Indiana fireworks laws

According to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, Fire and Building Safety Division, fireworks can be used only on the property of the user or someone who has consented to fireworks use on their property.

They can be purchased by those older than age 18 and children should use only with an adult present.

The penalty for violating fireworks law ranges from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class C felony. Fireworks may be discharged only between the hours of 9 a.m.and midnight on July 4.

The IDHA recommends that users only buy fireworks that are labeled as "class C," "consumer fireworks" and "1.4 g."

Fireworks safety tips

* Obey local laws, including ban of fireworks due to drought.

* Buy fireworks from a reliable, licensed dealer.

* Read and follow all directions.

* Do not alter any fireworks or attempt to make fireworks.

* Store fireworks in a cool, dry place away from the reach of children.

* Safety glasses are recommended for the person lighting or nearby the fireworks, such as a helper.

* Keep a fire extinguisher, water supply, hose or bucket of water nearby.

* Use fireworks outdoors, never indoors.

* Use in a clear, open area.

* Keep spectators a safe distance from the show.

* Be cautious of lighting any fireworks during strong wind conditions and light fireworks with prevailing wind blowing away from the spectators.

* Don't allow children to handle, play with or light any fireworks.

* Designate one person to ignite fireworks.

* Light only one firework item at a time.

* Never attempt to re-light, alter or fix any fireworks.

* Never smoke when handling fireworks.

* Drinking alcohol and using fireworks do not mix.

* Never aim, point or throw fireworks at another person.

SOURCE: The Indiana Department of Homeland Security, Fire and Building Safety Division