Burns Advice

It’s that time of year again and with Halloween fast approaching we have a large stock of burns dressings in the department

With that in mind we have released this article about burns which hopefully you will find useful

The main 6 steps are:

1.  Get the person away from the heat source
2.  Get the burnt area into cool or tepid liquid immediately or as soon as possible (ideally cool or tepid running water) for 20 minutes
3.  Remove any clothing / jewellery near the burnt skin but not if stuck to the skin
4.  Keep the person warm (take care not to rub anything against the burnt area)
5.  Cover the burn with a layer of cling film / plastic bag after you’ve finished with the liquid
6.  Use pain relief such as Ibuprofen or Paracetamol

What NOT to do:

• Only cool for 2-3 minutes
• Remove stuck on clothing
• Add butter or any fat based product
• Put ice directly onto the skin

The classification of burns are:

All burns which are large regardless of the depth should be seen by a medical professional. All partial and full thickness burns should always be assessed as they may require examination / treatment by a plastics Doctor / team.

You should call 999 immediately if you think it is life threatening such as:

• Burns which cause respiratory distress
• Burns to the throat
• Chemical burns to the face
• Very large burns

One of the best burn gels we have found (after running water) to give patients the best relief is BurnStop.  This is available to buy at RocDoc for €6 for a 50ml bottle along with first aid kits starting at €10

Some interesting facts that you may find useful:

 20 minutes under water:

Evidence has shown that the burnt area holds enough heat to continue causing damage to the lower skin levels for over 10-15 minutes despite flushing the area with cool water so we recommend flushing the area with cool water for 20 minutes.

Wrapping in cling film

The reason we advise to wrap the area in (new & clean) cling film after  cooling is this prevents the air getting to the skin. It is this air that normally causes a lot of the pain.  The cling film should be placed in sheets on the burn and never tightly or fully around a limb.

Popping blisters:

The skin provides a good protective layer which prevents any infection getting into the wound. The only time blisters should be drained is by a medical professional who utilises sterile equipment and dressings.