Burn Severity

Published on: March 24, 2011

Smoking in Bed: Some People Don’t Learn Until They Are Burned

On March 20, the Chicago Sun Times reported that two people were injured when a fire started in an apartment at a Chicago Housing Authority senior citizens building. One person suffered minor smoke inhalation, but an elderly man suffered second- and third-degree burns, all because of a cigarette that touched a mattress and caused it to catch fire.

Firefighters were called at about 1 a.m. to the 14th floor of the building at 1633 W. Madison St. The building is the Patrick Sullivan Apartments, a Chicago Housing Authority senior-living building, according to an address directory. While the first was small and contained only to the bedroom, the smoke was so thick that firefighters evacuated every apartment on the 14th floor.

There are a few lessons to be remembered from this incident. First: Smoking in or near a bed is a terrible idea. If even a small ash lands on a mattress, it can ignite the entire bed in seconds, giving you no time to avoid being burned or having your clothes catch fire. What’s more, mattresses generate a lot of smoke quickly, so someone can be overwhelmed in seconds by smoke that’s inside a bedroom.

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Published on: March 10, 2011

Here’s Another Good Source for Preventing Fires and Third-Degree Burns at Home

By Larry Kramer

While we writers on this blog always try to give useful lessons on everything from preventing second- and third-degree burns, smoke inhalation, and other injuries that come from fires, hot liquids, hot surfaces, and even the sun, we sometimes come across other really good sources of information that we want to pass along to you.

For instance, I saw an article this week on www.SafetyAtHome.com about making your home safer not only by being more aware of fire hazards and possible obstacles to escape, but also by teaching your children about fire prevention and what they should do if a fire starts in the home without their parents’ knowledge.

This topic is especially relevant as the entire nation mourns the loss of 7 small children in a house fire in rural Pennsylvania this week. The children were in the house while the mother was in a nearby barn, milking cows. By the time one of the kids ran to get mom to tell her about the smell of smoke in the house, the mother was unable to get the other children out of the house because of the speed of the fire. It’s a truly terrible story.

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Published on: March 8, 2011

Smoke Alarms Can Prevent Death from Third-Degree Burns or Smoke Inhalation

By Larry Kramer

Two deadly fires in the past week are perfect examples of why working smoke detectors are literally life-saving items that every home or apartment should have.

First, a fire in a high-rise apartment building in Philadelphia left two firefighters hospitalized, one in serious condition. The fire department responded to the early-morning blaze at an 18-story Philadelphia Housing Authority building and cleared scores of residents out. Smoke and flames poured from windows on the building’s eighth floor before the fire was doused.

The American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania helped about 150 residents with shelter, clothing, and food. The good news is that the worst outcome for any of the tenants was damage to their apartments and property–but nobody suffered bad smoke inhalation or third-degree burns.

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Published on: March 3, 2011

A New Way to Regenerate Skin for Victims of Third-Degree Burns

By Larry Kramer

Before I get to the topic in the headline, here’s a quick story: As I’ve written about in past blog entries, even the most mundane situations inside the home can result in third-degree burns. Another example came to light this week in Worthington, VA, where a routine cooking accident severely burned a man and damaged much of the home.

It was this simple: A visitor to the home accidentally splashed oil from a deep fryer onto the stove and onto the floor. Unfortunately, the oil landed on the visitor’s hands and feet, instantly causing second- and third-degree burns that required treatment at the West Penn Burn Center across the state border. Furthermore, the splashed oil also caused the window curtains to catch fire. Fire crews from four towns had to respond to the fire. The family now lives in a hotel temporarily, thanks to the American Red Cross.

Now for the good news that this blog’s title refers to. The web site InHabitat.com reported this week that scientists from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine are advancing in their goal to regenerate more of a person’s own healthy skin to repair burn damage on another part of the body. Inspired by, of all things, the typical office printer and its ink cartridge, the research team believes it could soon “print” human skin.

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Published on: March 1, 2011

A Terrible Month for Fires and Third-Degree Burns due to Carelessness

By Larry Kramer

Unfortunately, it seems that the month of February 2011 can be used by fire-prevention experts as a useful lesson in how human error and carelessness can bring devastating consequences, in the form of third-degree burns and smoke inhalation, from fires.

First, in New York City on February 24, candles used in a bedroom caused a fatal five-alarm fire after they tipped over and ignited bed sheets. The fire left an elderly woman dead and also injured 20 firefighters and three residents. The occupant of the apartment where the fire began had placed the candles on the floor around her bed. At some point, they tipped over, and a guest doused the flames with water.

But then the guest made a terrible mistake–he opened a window to clear the smoke from the room, which allowed fresh air to feed the fire again. The fire department said this actually created a “blowtorch effect” that whipped through the open window and pushed the fire all the way through the apartment. Then, as the occupants were fleeing through the apartment, they left the bedroom door and the front door open, which allowed the fire to spread all the way into the building’s hallway and quickly engulf the rest of the building.

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Published on: February 24, 2011

Spring is Coming, and so are Outdoor Fires–and Severe Burns

By Larry Kramer

It’s not even springtime yet, but the wildfire season has begun in the eastern U.S.

Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina have experienced low humidity and little rain for a few months now. The result is that there are leaves, bushes, grass, and trees that can be easily ignited by human carelessness.

The largest fire of nearly 300 wildfires that sparked in eastern North Carolina on Saturday kept burning Sunday, and state forest service officials warned that the potential for fast-moving flames would last several days. Crews said they have the fire 80 percent contained and did not expect any home evacuations, but noted that the fire’s spread can be unpredictable.

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Published on: February 22, 2011

Survivors of Third-Degree Burns Help Each Other Move Forward with Life Again

By Larry Kramer

A very informative and heart-warming story came from the local newspaper in Portland, Oregon last week, related to the difficult process of emotional healing for victims of disfiguring third-degree burns.

The article explained the uplifting happenings that take place during a regular gathering of a group called Portland Burn Survivors Inc. In fact, the writer of the story seemed to be moved by one of the very first things the group does once everyone arrives at the restaurant–they make a toast that goes, “Cheers for being alive!”

The article goes on to say that until about 30 years ago, surviving a severe burn meant constant pain and medical complications that usually led to premature death. But technological advances mean that many more people today survive severe burns. The problem is, the emotional trauma of living with bad scars and other complications are very recent too, so there is not a lot of research about exactly how burn victims need to think and act in order to lead happy lives.

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Published on: February 17, 2011

Preventing Fires and Severe Burns When in the Kitchen

By Larry Kramer

Tom Kiurski is a lieutenant, a paramedic, and the director of fire safety education for the Livonia, Michigan Fire & Rescue. He’s written a book, “Creating a Fire-Safe Community: A Guide for Fire Safety Educators” as a guide for local fire departments to bring the safety message to their communities. Here’s a summary of his views on preventing kitchen fires and third-degree burns:

Under normal circumstances, most folks would not throw a kitchen cloth onto a burning stove, or help spread a fire from a pan to the cabinets, or add oxygen to a fire so that it flares up faster. Yet these things happens much too often because of panic. So let’s take a look at how we can use safety sense in the kitchen to reduce the of having an unwanted fire.

Cooking is the leading cause of fires and civilian fire injuries in the United States. Two out of three reported home cooking fires start with the range or stove–and usually involve food, grease, rags, bags, cabinets, curtains, or other household items getting ignited.

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Published on: February 15, 2011

Cooking-Related Burns are Very Common–and Very Preventable!

By Larry Kramer

For most people, food is a truly enjoyable part of life. But when people are careless with hot food, injuries can happen–even 3rd degree burns!

For instance, just last week a couple filed suit in the California courts against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, claiming their young son suffered “severe burns” as a result of scalding-hot nacho cheese served to them. In the suit, the parents of a four-year-old boy said they were eating dinner at Disney World in Orlando last March when the cheese was spilled on their son’s face. The suit says that “the cheese was scalding hot and resulted in severe burns” to the child, and that Disney served the cheese “negligently and carelessly” and made “no effort” to regulate its temperature.

What’s more, the suit says the child suffered “permanent scarring, pain and suffering” as a result of the burns, and his parents suffered “emotional distress” from witnessing his agony. The family asked the court for the medical and legal costs incurred, as well as punitive damages.

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Published on: February 8, 2011

A Bad Week for Fires, but Good News Arrives for Victims of Severe Burns

By Larry Kramer

The cold weather blanketing much of the United States in this first week of February is causing many incidents of fire as people try to keep warm. For instance, in suburban New York, five firefighters were hospitalized with smoke inhalation after battling a basement house fire. One of those firefighters was in critical but stable condition and undergoing hyperbaric chamber treatment before going into the intensive care unit.

A local fire marshal said the blaze was not suspicious; the fire broke out around lunchtime and took about an hour to get under control. The firefighters were injured while in the basement, where there was a sudden eruption of flames, said one police detective. A fire chief added that “the fire at one point flared up on them,” probably from a rush of oxygen that came into the basement from a door or an area of wall being opened to the outside. See a video of the fire here.

The lesson here: If you have a fire in your home, it is best to simply close the door to the room where the fire is burning and immediately go outside your home to call the fire department — do not try to put out the fire yourself! In fact, closing a door or window as you leave will actually help to starve the fire of the fuel it needs to burn — oxygen.

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