Day 4: Emergency Care for Burn Injury

(11-30-2023) with Alicia Lintner (CCRN, MSN, ACNP-BC)

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Cool Facts:

450,000 burn injuries/year in the U.S., 191,848 admissions to burn centers, 3,400 deaths, 74% of burn injuries are <10% TBSA with mortality rate of 0.6%, presense of inhalition injury increases likelihood of death by 16 times

Burn Injury Statistics:

68% of burn patients are men, children < 5 year old= 19% of cases > 60 year old= 13%, most common burns are fire/flame and scald (80%), 73% of injuires happen at home, average length of stay= 8 days

Severity of Burn Injury:

Source of the burn injury, degree of heat, length of contact or exposure, age of victim, anatomical location, associated injuries, pre-existing medical conditions

Skin Function:

Protection, Sensory, Temperature, Water Balance, Cosmetic/Idenity

Skin Structure:

Epidermis- Non-Vascular, stratified epithelial cells

Dermis- Vascular, nerve endings, hair follicles, oil/sweat glands

First Degree/ Superficial:

Red/pink skin, minor pain, heal in 3-5 days

Second Degree:

Pink/red, moist, very painful, heal 10-21 days

Third Degree/ Full- Thickness:

May appear tan, deep red, black, white, yellow, or brown; may have thrombosed vessels; hard, dry, leather appearance, usually not painful, unable to re-epithelialize

Fourth Degree/Full- thickness:

Burn extends to muscle, possible amputation required, sometimes the extremity has a mummified/contracted appearance upon presentation

Inhalation Injuries:

Damage to upper/lower airways and lungs, upper airway-heat, most often occurs in enclosed spaces, can present in respiratory distress

After hearing about burns I figured out I was very fascinated by the idea of burns and all the cool facts that go along with burns.