Medical

Published on: January 10, 2012

Fire in Stores or Malls Can Cause Deadly Smoke Inhalation

Here’s a story that provides a very good lesson for all of us on the need to think about fire safety not just at home, but also when walking around in stores, malls, and other public places.

In early January in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, four people had to be treated for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out in a store. A clothing shop caught fire at about 8:15 p.m. on a Friday night, and firefighters were called away from a small fire in another neighborhood to fight the shop fire.

On arrival, fire crews found the fire was already extinguished. But even so, there were people in need of medical treatment, so paramedics were called in. Two ambulances and a rapid response vehicle were sent to treat three females who suffered smoke inhalation. They were taken to Peterborough City Hospital for further care.

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Published on: January 10, 2012

How to Care for Your Child After Being Discharged Home (Part I)

By Larry Kramer

Burn injuries are not only devestating for the patient but for the whole family. A common question the parents ask, is for how long their child will be hospitalized in the hospital. When the time comes, the Burn team will begin planning for discharge. The case manager or the social worker assined to the patient will assist with coordinating discharge plans. Among the things discharge plan deal with is, caring for the child at home, potential complications , follow up appointments and refferals if the child need them.

Caring for your child at home involves the following:

Medications:

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Published on: January 7, 2012

Fire Prevention Tips for the Winter Season

By Larry Kramer

Winter is the time of year when home fires are more prevalent, and the Elgin, Illinois Fire Department offers excellent tips on how to stay safe as people try to stay warm in their homes.

“Winter storms can interrupt heating and electric service, and many times people attempt to heat their homes using alternative means, increasing the risk of fire,” said Elgin Fire Chief John Fahy. “What’s more, even cooking or trying to generate additional heat from traditional sources can also increase the risk of fire.”

The United States Fire Administration reports that each winter, more than 108,000 residential building fires occur in the United States, resulting in 945 deaths, 3,825 injuries and about $1.7 billion in property loss.

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Published on: January 6, 2012

Severe Burns Can Cause Kidney Injury and Kidney Failure

By Larry Kramer

Here is an informative article for anyone who suffers injuries from severe burns–not just soldiers who are burned in combat:

Many American soldiers who suffer burns during combat develop acute kidney injury–an abrupt or rapid decline in kidney function that is potentially deadly. That’s the finding of a study that looked at acute kidney injury among 692 U.S. military casualties who were evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan to burn units.

Using two different classification systems, the researchers found that rates of acute kidney injury were 24 percent and 30 percent among the casualties. What’s more, those with acute kidney injury were much more likely to die than those without it. Death rates among patients with moderate forms of kidney problems were 21 to 33 percent, while severe forms of the condition were made the death rate a whopping 63 to 65 percent. In comparison, the death rate for patients who did not have acute kidney injury was 0.2 percent.

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Published on: January 5, 2012

Space Heaters and Burn Injuries

By Larry Kramer

As the winter season is progressing with the temperature falling and as the heating cost is rising, more people are using portable space heaters to help lower the bills paied for energy. There are many models of space heaters including those that are electric, those that burn kerosine, propane and other fuels. Many homeowners chose the electric model as they don’t produce an open flame and don’t produce noxious fumes therefore they appear safer. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), many homeoners exhibit a false sense of security related to electric space heaters and appliances which can, infact, be very dangerous when used improperly. The CPSC warns that although space heaters don’t produce an open flame, they do produce enough heat to ignite flammable objects near by such as clothing (see flammable clothing), furniture rugs, papers, as well as the risk of electric shock and electrocutions.

According to the U.S. Consumer safety Commission, more than 25,000 residental fires, 300 deaths, and 6,000 burn injuries every year are associated with the improper use of portable space heaters. If you are you are using an electric space heater, consider these safety tips:

Shop for heaters with safety certification. Portable space heaters that are listed by Nationaly Recognized testing Laboratories (NRTLs) have been certified after being tested and proven to meet specific safety standards.

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Published on: December 29, 2011

Smoke Detectors and Smoke Alarms Save Lives–but Too Many People Ignore Them

By Larry Kramer

In our last blog post, we wrote about five family members who died of smoke inhalation during a house fire in Connecticut. The fire raged so quickly through the wooden house that investigators still do not know if there were smoke alarms in the house that alerted the occupants.

But consider this: if these fire investigators think that people could have died in a fire even though there might have been smoke detectors in the house, how can anyone think that they could escape a fire when they do NOT have working smoke alarms in their house? Smoke inhalation kills people so quickly that even one or two breaths of air contaminated with smoke and carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide can render a person unconscious, and cause them to die even if they are rescued before suffering any third degree burns.

Here is just one recent example of such a situation: A woman died from smoke inhalation in Washougal, Washington in large part because the smoke detector in her apartment had been disconnected. The 28-year-old woman’s apartment caught fire not while she was asleep, but right in the middle of the day! And the fire was not very big–it was contained to an upper-floor apartment and did not spread to the lower floor, and was extinguished within a few minutes. But the woman was found unconscious in a bedroom, and there were no other occupants in the apartment. The Clark County Fire Marshal’s Office said a few days later that there was not a working smoke detector in the apartment–it had been disconnected.

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Published on: December 27, 2011

Connecticut Home Fire Kills Five, and Offers Fire Safety and Smoke Inhalation Lessons

By Larry Kramer

A Connecticut house fire killed three children and two grandparents on Christmas morning, and it was possibly sparked by one careless act: Still-hot fireplace ashes were placed outside in the yard, but too close to the house.

The ashes from the family’s Christmas Eve yule log were probably still smoldering when they were removed from the fireplace and dumped outside the 100-year-old wooden home. The overnight wind seems to have blown the embers against the wooden building, sparking the Christmas morning blaze.

The head of household, a 47-year-old woman, and male companion were the only ones to escape the furious fire, which gutted the home in just minutes. A 10-year-old girl and her seven-year-old twin sisters died in the inferno, as did the children’s grandparents, who were visiting for the holidays. “My whole life is in there,” the homeowner sobbed as emergency responders led her away from the burning home.

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Published on: December 23, 2011

Another Elderly Victim Who Found the Strength to Survive Her Severe Burns

By Larry Kramer

A week ago, we wrote about a 70-year-old woman who fought through physical and psychological trauma she suffered from receiving third degree burns–and fought so well that she was able to walk again, and do many things on her own, even tough doctors never thought it would be possible.

Well, we have an even more unbelievable burn survivor story to share with you. Last month in the Morning Sun newspaper serving central Michigan, a writer chronicled the experience of Evelyn Clark, a 79-year-old who was burned in a gasoline fire in July 2011 and nearly died a few times since then. But Evelyn has recovered, and she spent what she calls “an extra special” Thanksgiving with her husband Jim, plus her children and her grandchildren at her home in Weidman, Michigan.

After being burned outside her home while pouring just a bit of gasoline in a barrel to start a controlled fire, Evelyn was rushed to at Spectrum Health Butterworth Campus in Grand Rapids. She suffered third degree burns on nearly 30 percent of her body, and then she developed pneumonia and another life-threatening condition while she was undergoing more than one skin graft.

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Published on: December 21, 2011

Chemicals in Household Cleaners Can Cause Severe Burns, and Even Death

By Larry Kramer

In Portland, Oregon last week, a 59-year-old man suffered severe chemical burns on more than half of his body, all because he tried to do something we all do at one time or another: He tried to clean stains from his clothing with a cleaning solution.

Cleaning chemicals have strong, dangerous odors that can overpower a person and make them unconscious quickly. What’s more, the chemicals can also create severe burns when they come in contact with the skin. When using such cleaning chemicals, people should wear protective gear and work only in a well-ventilated area, or else risk suffering burns to the skin, eyes, or lungs.

The Portland man came home from his job working on a crane. He told his wife he was going to use chemicals in the bathtub try to clean grease stains from his coat. But when his wife came home a few hours later, she smelled an overwhelming odor similar to paint thinner. She then found her husband in the bathtub, with his clothes drenched in a solvent-based chemical. She called emergency medical personnel.

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Published on: December 19, 2011

Gas Explosion Kills Man, Injures Six–Is There Negligence and Liability?

By Larry Kramer

A few weeks ago, the Associated Press reported that an explosion in a home in Fairborn, Ohio killed a 75-year-old man and caused debris injuries and severe burns to six others, including four children. The blast was so powerful that it also significantly damaged neighboring homes.

Both the gas and water service were turned off inside the home so repair crews could work on the water line. But the house exploded when the crew apparently hit the gas pipe while doing their work. The explosion sent debris and the victims literally flying through the yard, and a neighbor reported seeing a baby with burns, and bloodied from being hit with flying glass.

That 1-year-old baby was in fair condition while a 5-year-old child was in good condition by the next morning, said a spokesman for Dayton Children’s Medical Center. A third child, whose age wasn’t available, was treated and released the same day. But a 13-year-old was transferred in critical condition to Shriner’s Hospital for Children, one of about four hospitals in the country specializing in pediatric burns.

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