Safety And Fire Prevention - Burn Injuries

By Author: sudarshan singh
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Serious burns are complex injuries. In addition to the burn injury itself, a number of other functions may be affected. Burn injuries can affect muscles, bones, nerves, and blood vessels. The respiratory system can be damaged, with possible airway obstruction, respiratory failure and respiratory arrest. Since burns injure the skin, they impair the body's normal fluid/electrolyte balance, body temperature, body thermal regulation, joint function, manual dexterity, and physical appearance. In addition to the physical damage caused by burns, patients also may suffer emotional and psychological problems that begin at the emergency scene and could last a long time.
Burn Injuries
The Skin

The skin is the largest organ in the body and performs many important functions. It protects against infection by keeping out bacteria. It prevents loss of body fluids and helps control body temperature.
Depth of Burn

The depth of burn is usually categorized as superficial partial-thickness, deep partial-thickness or full-thickness.
Superficial partial-thickness (also know as superficial second degree)

A ...
... superficial partial-thickness burn resembles a deep sunburn and is very painful. It will usually heal on its own within ten days.
Deep partial-thickness (also known as deep second degree)

A deep partial-thickness burn is also very painful and blisters will form over the burned area. It may take at least three weeks to heal.
Full-thickness (also known as third degree)

A full-thickness burn involves damage to all the layers of the skin, including the skin-reproducing cells. This wound will require skin grafting to heal.
First Degree Burn Second Degree Burn Third Degree Burn

The severity of a burn injury depends on the depth and size of the burn wound, patient’s age, the patient’s past medical problems and part of the body that has been burned. It is difficult to predict how long it will take for a patient’s injury to heal as all individuals recover at different rates.

It is not always possible to tell the depth of the injury when a patient is admitted. It often takes several days to determine whether the burn wound will heal on its own or if it will require skin grafting.
Determining the severity of burns

* Source of the burn - a minor burn caused by nuclear radiation is more severe than a burn caused by thermal sources. Chemical burns are dangerous because the chemical may still be on the skin.
* Body regions burned - burns to the face are more severe because they could affect airway management or the eyes. Burns to hands and feet are also of special concern because they could impede movement of fingers and toes.
* Degree of the burn - the degree of the burn is important because it could cause infection of exposed tissues and permit invasion of the circulatory system.
* Extent of burned surface areas - It is important to know the percentage of the amount of the skin surface involved in the burn. The adult body is divided into regions, each of which represents nine percent of the total body surface. These regions are the head and neck, each upper limb, the chest, the abdomen, the upper back, the lower back and buttocks, the front of each lower limb, and the back of each lower limb. This makes up 99 percent of the human body. The remaining one percent is the genital area. With an infant or small child, more emphasis is placed on the head and trunk.
* Age of the patient - This is important because small children and senior citizens usually have more severe reactions to burns and different healing processes.
* Pre-existing physical or mental conditions - Patients with respiratory illnesses, heart disorders, diabetes or kidney disease are in greater jeopardy than normally healthy people.

Never apply ointment, grease or butter to the burned area. Applying such products, actually confine the heat of the burn to the skin and do not allow the damaged area to cool. In essence, the skin continues to "simmer." After the initial trauma of the burn and after it has had sufficient time to cool, it would then be appropriate to put an ointment on the burn. Ointments help prevent infection.

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