Third Degree Burns

Published on: November 4, 2011

Two Lessons About Smoke Inhalation From a Restaurant Fire

In Fort Peck, Montana in late October, a fire destroyed a historic landmark restaurant in eastern Montana and the owner was hospitalized after suffering smoke inhalation.

Fort Peck’s Gateway Inn Bar and Supper Club, built in 1933, caught fire at about 11:30 a.m. on a Saturday, just as the lunch crowd was coming in. An assistant fire chief said that several customers were in the building at the time, but were able to escape.

A local sheriff also said that the restaurant owner made a near-fatal mistake by running back into the building to get some keys–that’s when he suffered smoke inhalation. Although he was listed in good condition just one day after the fire, the owner’s actions were very risky.

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Published on: October 31, 2011

With Winter Approaching, Be Careful with Firewood and Other Heating Fuels to Avoid Severe Burns

By Larry Kramer

It seems that winter has come early to the Northeast, and surely there are many people in that region who have already started using firewood and other sources of fuel to heat their homes.

However, it is very important to think and take precautions before using a fireplace or other heating unit, because it is very easy to have an accident that causes a small fire to grow out of control, and possibly cause severe burns or swift, deadly smoke inhalation because the fire is in an enclosed space–a den or some other room.

Here is just one recent example of a person being careless and causing a life-threatening situation: In mid-September in Brooklyn Park, Maryland, fire investigators determined that a man who was burned a few days before in the basement of his Brooklyn Park home had poured gasoline on wet wood inside his fireplace.

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Published on: October 28, 2011

Burn Camps Help Burn Victims Cope With Their Scars–and Are Located in Every U.S. State

By Larry Kramer

In our last post on Wednesday, October 26, we talked about the many services offered at the new Grossman Burn Center in Phoenix, Arizona. But once a burn victim is released from a burn center like Grossman, there are still many challenges to deal with for the rest of their lives. But burn survivors can gain the confidence to move forward in their lives with the help of burn camps. In fact, every state in the U.S. has a burn camp.

Here is one example: In August 2011 a 10-year-old named Elizabeth Watson attended a burn camp in Utah, and came home feeling energized and able to better handle the complications in her life. When Elizabeth was younger, she hated the burn scars that wrapped around her legs, arms, feet and part of her head, thinking that they were so ugly. But over time, Elizabeth learned that the burn scars suffered from a propane accident when she was just 5 months old do not define who she is or how she looks. They are simply, as she says, “a part of who I am.”

Elizabeth attended the annual University Health Care Burn Camp at Camp Tracy in Mill Creek Canyon in Utah, along with 40 other young burn victims. They rode horses, went swimming, made music, and created arts and crafts over four days. All of this helped them build confidence that they can do whatever they want, and that their burn injury and scars won’t hold them back..

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Published on: October 26, 2011

New Burn Center Opens in Phoenix, Arizona to Help Burn Victims Heal

By Larry Kramer

In October 2011, Grossman Burn Centers announced the official opening of its new burn center in Phoenix, Arizona, at St. Luke’s Medical Center. The eight-bed unit is the fifth Grossman Burn Center, and the second outside the state of California.

GBC Medical Director Dr. Peter H. Grossman commented that “It is a privilege to partner with St. Luke’s Medical Center to bring additional state-of-the-art burn care services to Arizona. Our facility will complement Phoenix’s existing burn center by making more beds available to Arizona’s growing population, and by providing patients and referring physicians with more options for their burn treatment regimen. This is a very positive development for the Grossman Burn Centers, for St. Luke’s, and for Arizona.”

The Grossman Burn Center at St. Luke’s Medical Center provides a comprehensive suite of burn care services, from acute and reconstructive burn care, to rehabilitation and post-treatment emotional and psychological support. The center is under the direction of GBC Medical Director, Dr. Peter H. Grossman. It is managed on a day-to-day basis by Dr. Robert Bonillas and Dr. Anthony Admire, and staffed by physicians on the medical staff at St. Luke’s Medical Center trained in restorative burn care.

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Published on: October 20, 2011

New Information on True Causes of Death from Smoke Inhalation: Hydrogen Cyanide Poisoning

By Larry Kramer

On October 6, 2011, the Fire Smoke Coalition launched the first Smoke Inhalation Treatment Database for use by EMTs, first responders and medical professionals throughout the world.

In the United States, residential fires are the third leading cause of fatal injury and the fifth most common cause of unintentional injury death, yet the majority of fire-related fatalities are NOT caused by severe burns–they are cause by smoke inhalation.

Despite the amount of fires in the U.S. decreasing each year, the amount of civilians dying in fires is actually increasing. For example, in 2009, 1,348,500 fires were attended by public fire departments, a decrease of 7.1 percent from the year before; however, 3,010 civilian fire deaths occurred, which is an increase of 9.3 percent.

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Published on: October 18, 2011

Burn Injuries from Electric and Natural Gas Service in the Home Are Too Common

By Larry Kramer

A few weeks ago in Kinston, NC, a utility worker was injured badly after 7,200 volts of electricity traveled through his body when he came in contact with an underground power wire. The worker, whose name was not released at press time, was working to fix a power outage when the incident happened. He was taken to the burn unit at UNC Hospital in Chapel Hill because he suffered second degree and third degree burns. One city official said the worker has second degree burns to his face and chest, and third degree burns to his arms and legs. The employee is a lineman who’s been with the city for 25 years. He was working on an underground primary line in a ditch when he was shocked.

That same week in Lake Katrine, NY, a faulty propane gas line caused a home fire that severely burned an elderly couple. The fire left the unidentified woman hospitalized in critical condition at Jacobi Medical Center in New York City, with burns over 90 percent of her body. The man was taken to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla with burns on about 40 percent of his body. Neighbors trying to help the couple also suffered burns that required medical treatment.

Officials investigating the fire say it is likely that there was a leak in the line between an outdoor propane tank and the stove inside the home, which caused an explosion.

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Published on: October 14, 2011

Burns and Smoke Inhalation from Kitchen Fires Can Be Deadly–and Preventable

By Larry Kramer

In Las Vegas in early October, a casino employee was lucky to have survived after suffering smoke inhalation after a fire started inside his restaurant’s grease duct.

Firefighters quickly doused the fire a little before 9 a.m. on a Sunday at the Wynn Las Vegas Resort, and damage was confined to a small mechanical room. And the local fire chief credited the design of the duct system for containing the fire. The Wynn resort is about 10 years old, so it has a very modern design that helps with fire prevention so that a small fire cannot spread easily and become a large fire that threatens any more lives.

On the other hand, many older restaurants around the country are not designed in the same way. As a result, they have a much higher chance of being engulfed in a rapidly-spreading fire if their grease ducts and air ducts are not cleaned regularly. Restaurant managers have an obligation to make sure this cleaning happens enough so that there is only a small chance of a grease fire growing out of control.

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Published on: October 6, 2011

A Victim of Third Degree Burns Gets Support That Gives Her Hope–And Then She Gives Other Burn Victims Hope Too

By Larry Kramer

An article back in July in the midwestern newspaper The Columbia Missourian told the heartwarming story of one woman coming to the aid of another woman who was the victim of third degree burns. This story also has lessons for anyone who kmnows someone who suffers severe burns.

Larisa Rudelson never knew Albina Lewis until she went to visit her in the burn unit at University Hospital in Columbia, MO. Both women are originally from Russia and now live in Columbia, so Rudelson understands that being away from one’s home can be very lonely, especially in such a situation that Lewis found herself in.

On February 23, Lewis’ apartment caught fire, and she could not escape in time to avoid being badly injured by severe burns. Her arms, hands, ears and one of her legs were damaged, but fortunately her face did not receive burns as serious as those on her extremities. These burn injuries kept her in University Hospital for more than four months, and recently she was moved to the St. John’s Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital in St. Louis.

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Published on: September 29, 2011

Burn Camps Provide Support for Burn Victims That Lasts a Lifetime

By Larry Kramer

Over this past summer in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a celebration for guests at the Great Lakes Burn Camp showed the huge amount of camaraderie shared by victims of severe burns and their families. This was the 17th annual camp, which lasts six days and is set alongside a beautiful lake.

Mike Longenecker, camp director and one of about 90 staff members and counselors overseeing this year’s 52 campers, said that it is very moving to see the joy this burn camp gives so many kids. “You’ve got to remember that these are kids with burn (scars) and they’re at an age where peers put image and looks under a microscope,” he said. “Burn camp gives these kids a week where they can look any way they want without having to worry [about exposing their scars], and be themselves.” Even with a skin graft to repair damaged skin, burn victims rarely look the same as before they were burned, so the psychological effects of burns are almost as serious as the physical effects.

Longenecker said he’s missed wedding anniversaries and his wife’s birthdays to run the burn camp, but he adds that she knew when they married that the annual camp visit means so much to him.

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Published on: September 28, 2011

Abandoned Homes Pose Risks for Fires and Severe Burns

By Larry Kramer

One weekday last month in Portland, Oregon, a boarded-up, vacant home burned down in the southeast section of town. Firefighters responded to the home just before 4 p.m. on a Monday to find the house, located at the end of a road, in flames. To minimize the risk of injury, the firefighters went on the defensive and were able to take control of the flames within 10 minutes, said the fire & rescue battalion chief.

Neighbors told firefighters there had been an increase in transient activity at this home and at another abandoned home nearby. Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the fire, but estimated that the house suffered about $10,000 in damage.

By itself, this incident is not much news to report on. But consider this: It’s just the latest in a string of fires in abandoned homes, not just in the Portland area but nationwide as well. For instance, there were four fires in abandoned homes in just two months in Flint, Michigan–all on the same block. And with the number of home foreclosures sure to be high for the foreseeable future, these types of fires are not going to lessen unless precautions are taken by those responsible for the house.

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