Safety preparedness of urban community for New Year fireworks in Tehran

Fireworks are used worldwide during national and cultural celebrations. Iranians celebrate the last Wednesday of the Persian year (ILWEF) as an ancient custom. The aim of this study was to determine safety preparedness of inhabitation in Tehran, the capital city of Iran, for 2007 ILWEF fireworks. In this study, interviewers referred to randomly selected addresses after the end of ILWEF. They asked responders about source of information on how to use firework items and having education of safe use of fireworks. Also people were asked about having first aid kits and fire extinguisher at home. The study included 2475 families. To learn how to use fireworks, 1.3% had read brochures; the remainder of responders obtained their information from miscellaneous sources with unknown validity. Only 1.1% of them have had some sort of education on the safe use of fireworks. According to responders, 98.4% did not have any information about the safety standards of fireworks. We conclude that Tehranian households were not sufficiently prepared to guarantee a safe festival. It seems safety preparedness of the community to prevent firework related fires and injuries, by relevant education and promotion of fire safety equipments, needs to be reconsidered in Tehran. Considering the impaired safety preparedness of community for fireworks festival, individuals should attend public fireworks displays conducted by professionals rather than engage in personal use of fireworks. Restriction of the use of fireworks and banning firecrackers lacking appropriate insertions on safety instructions are other solutions to be considered.