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Burns: the importance of prevention

Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, Box 359960, 325 Ninth Ave, Seattle, WA 98104, USA fpr@u.washington.edu

Keywords: burns

Working in a regional trauma center, the two types of injuries that make me cringe when I hear a patient is coming into the hospital are head injuries and burns. These injuries share many similarities in that they are both relatively common, are important causes of death, and many of the victims have lifelong morbidity.

There are approximately 4000 deaths each year in the US from fire and burns.¹ A similar figure, proportional to population, is probably found in most developed countries. The problem of burns is even relatively greater in less industrialized countries where the absence of specialized burn care results in much greater morbidity, disability, and mortality for burn victims.²

The majority of fire deaths are due to smoke inhalation in residential fires, rather than from the burn itself. Smoke inhalation can increase the mortality rate 10-fold for the same size burn,³ and most of these deaths occur . . . [Full text of this article]