A. Arno, J. Knighton

Prevention of contact burns

Contact burns, as well as chemical burns, can be avoided by adopting appropriate preventive measures. In developed countries, contact burns from the use of gas-fire places, domestic central heating radiators, irons and ovens have been identified. The surface temperature of the glass front on gas fireplace units can reach 200 °C, on average 6.5 minutes after ignition. A full-thickness burn may occur in less than 1 second with this temperature, and these contact burns can occur in both adults and children (Table 12). In toddlers and preschool children, domestic heating devices located too close to their beds have been found to be responsible for many hand contact burns.

to the female end of the extension cord to prevent injuries.

In some developing and western-world countries, thieves can also suffer electrical burns during their attempts to steal the cupper wire.

In Korea, people eat using steel – not plastic or wood – chopsticks; children may insert the steel chopsticks into the wall socket, producing severe pediatric electrical burns. To prevent such injuries, they could be encouraged to use wooden chopsticks.

Lightning is a form of direct electrical current that kills approximately one hundred people each year in the US. Lightning injuries can be avoided by leaving the area or seeking shelter when a storm approaches.

Prevention of chemical burns

Conclusions

Chemicals, used in the home, should be locked away and rendered inaccessible to children. All chemicals should be stored in their original containers. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations require eyewash stations and showers in all facilities that use potentially injurious chemical products to allow for instant and copious irrigation following exposure.

Prevention of electrical burns

Electrical injuries can be prevented by strict adherence to safety rules regarding household wiring, electrical outlets and appliance cords. The majority of high-voltage electrical injuries occur at work and may be fatal or lead to devastating sequelae such as amputations. In addition, bystanders are at risk for injury and should never touch someone, who is in direct contact with electricity until the current has been shut off. In the case of children, when the regional resistance (wet mouth) is low and the peripheral resistance is high (e. g. an ungrounded foot), then an oral burn results, but if this latter is also low (e. g. a grounded foot or hand), then electrocution results. Prevention must be directed to the female end of the extension cord. In 1976, the “Crikelair protective cuff” was described in the scientific literature; it consists of a plastic, transparent and non-conductive cuff which attacks

Although burns constitute a small number of casualties, they consume a disproportionate amount of resources and require specialized care. More importantly, burns are traumatic injuries with potentially chronic and devastating physical, mental and social sequelae, which occur in individuals who are less able to protect and care for themselves, such as children, the elderly or people under the effect of drugs or who have mental health concerns.

The vast majority of burns occur in the developing world, who do not have the same resources to care for these burn patients. Further, the victims in those countries are often amongst the poorest and most vulnerable. Most of the advances in burn prevention, care and recovery have been incompletely applied to the developing world. In order to ameliorate that, international support – such as that developed by the WHO (World Health Organization) and ISBI (International Society of Burn Injuries) – is strongly needed.

Burns are preventable and prevention should continue to be as important as proper treatment. Burn prevention campaigns should include active, as well as, passive tools, including education (with a focus on behavioural changes to be truly effective), product safety improvements and legislation. Prevention programmes should be population-specific and address the different risk factors, including age, gender, geography, comorbidities, culture and trad-

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Prevention of burn injuries

itions. More accurate worldwide epidemiologic registries would be helpful in tracking the efficacy of programmes, with a goal of reducing burn injuries to lower levels than exist at currently.

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Correspondence: A. Arno, M.D., Burn Unit and Plastic Surgery Department, Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Passeig de la Vall d’Hebron 119–129, 08035, Barcelona, Spain, E-mail: [e-mail]

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