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Foundation Briefings
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"Fire and Burn Hazards
Force Deep Fryer Recall"
"Recovery Is Long and
Painful for Refinery Burn Victims"
"Pediatric Upper
Extremity Burns: Outcomes of Emergency Department Triage and Outpatient
Management"
"Outpatient Burn
Facility Opens"
"Local Burn Specialist
Honored by Saudi Arabia Foundation for Medical Innovation"
"Digital Photography:
A Technique to Optimize Reimbursement"
"Study Findings on
Burn Care Are Outlined in Reports From Johns Hopkins University"
"San Joaquin Hospital
to Open Burn Center, First in Kern County"
"Epistatic
Interactions Are Critical to Gene-Association Studies"
"Moldova Opens New
Burn Center With U.S. Help"
"New $6.7M Burn Center
at Nassau U Med Center"
"How Long a Shadow
Does Epidemic Obesity Cast in the Burn Unit?"
"New Pediatric in
Children Data Have Been Reported by Scientists at University of Utah"
"Yes, It’s the Sweet
Truth: Honey Can Soothe a Burn"
"Camps Offer Young
Burn Survivors a Chance to Heal Emotionally"
"Fire
and Burn Hazards Force Deep Fryer Recall"
9WSYR.COM (03/11/08)
A
recall of defective deep fryers has been ordered by JCPenney. The retailer
is recalling 27,000 Cooks Deep Fryers due to faulty wiring that can cause
the fryer to overheat. At least five incidents have been reported,
including one in which a person received minor burns. Defective models bear
the number 22016 on the bottom of the fryers. JCPenney sold the fryers from
August 2007 through January 2008.
"Recovery Is Long and Painful for Refinery Burn
Victims"
KansasCity.com (03/08/08) Bynum, Russ
The
Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Ga., is caring for 11 patients who
were badly burned in an explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery last
month, filling nearly half the intensive care unit's 25 rooms. Eight of
those patients are in grave condition, and they have a long road to
recovery ahead. The center assigns one nurse per patient, because vital
signs must be checked hourly and changing bandages daily takes up to two
hours. Another component of the lengthy treatment process includes getting
permanent skin grafts grown in test tubes from small samples of the
patients' skin. The grafts will take a year to thicken and become more
durable, as they are currently only a few cell layers thick, but they will
offer a shield against infection and will help the body to regulate
temperature.
"Pediatric Upper Extremity Burns: Outcomes of
Emergency Department Triage and Outpatient Management"
Journal of Burn Care & Research (02/01/2008) Vol. 29, No. 1, P. 77;
Ewings, Ember Lee; Pollack, Jonathan
A
recent study looked at the epidemiology and outcomes associated with upper
extremity burns suffered by 269 children over the past five years. The
study found that the largest number of the burns were caused by direct
contact, followed by scalds and burns caused by fire. Half of the patients
involved in the study sustained burns over less than 1 percent of their
total body surface area (TBSA), while 95 percent had burns on less than 5
percent TBSA. Three-quarters of the patients had second-degree burns, while
21 percent had first-degree burns and 2 percent had third-degree burns. The
study also found that 15 percent of the children had a plastic surgery
consult and 3 percent required skin grafting. Only 2 percent of the
patients suffered complications from their burns, including hypertrophic
scarring, flexor contractures, compartment syndrome and infection. The
findings of the study suggest that most of the burns children sustain on
the upper portion of their bodies are minor and are treated by primary care
providers.
"Outpatient Burn Facility Opens"
Clarion Ledger (03/08/08) Liuzza, Chris
The
Rankin Medical Center's outpatient burn facility opened this month in
Brandon, Miss., which sorely needed the facility after the state closed
another burn center. The center will be easier to get to for many patients,
who were commuting up to six hours to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in
Georgia for treatment. The Georgia burn center has seen 100 to 200 Mississippi
patients since the Mississippi Firefighters' Memorial Burn Center closed in
2005. Doctors from the Georgia center will attend the Rankin center twice
monthly to provide outpatient care so that patients can keep seeing the
same doctors. The goal for the Rankin facility is to eventually expand into
a full-service burn center. For now, it will have the capacity to handle
some small third-degree burns and minor skin grafts and reconstruction.
"Local Burn Specialist Honored by Saudi Arabia
Foundation for Medical Innovation"
San Antonio Business Journal (03/05/08)
Dr.
Basil A. Pruitt, Jr. and Dr. Donald Trunkey are the winners of the 2008
King Faisal International Prize for Medicine. Pruitt worked with the U.S.
Army Institute for Surgical Research for almost 50 years, providing
soldiers with trauma management and burn treatment. Pruitt is also
"the father of modern burn care," according to Stephen M. Cohn, a
professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center. Trunkey is a
trauma surgeon from Oregon Health & Science University.
"Digital Photography: A Technique to Optimize
Reimbursement"
Journal of Burn Care & Research (02/01/2008) Vol. 29, No. 1, P. 147;
Light, Timothy D.; Jeng, James C.; Gunzel, Christopher S.
Insurance
firms may reject medical claims due to unsatisfactory documentation.
Dictated notes or an electronic medical record offer a correct and thorough
documentation of services. A study of billing records for a one-year period
was recently conducted. One practitioner took daily digital pictures of all
progress documents and provided them when submitting claims, while the
other practitioner did not employ this strategy. Both practitioners
dictated procedure notes, which were given to the billing service when
their claims were submitted. The Wilcoxon's rank-sum test compared the
reimbursement figures for the two practitioners, analyzing over 5,000
billing submissions. The reimbursement amount for procedures was similar
for the practitioners--between 18 percent and 19 percent. The reimbursement
amount for daily progress notes was 38 percent for the practitioner
employing digital photography and 29 percent for the other practitioner.
The study concludes that digital photography offers evidence of service to
insurance firms and increases reimbursement levels.
"Study Findings on Burn Care Are Outlined in
Reports From Johns Hopkins University"
Medical Device Law Weekly (03/02/08) P. 82
Researchers
at Johns Hopkins University have studied the impact of a 12-week exercise
program on the aerobic capacity of adult burn survivors. The study involved
a sample of 35 adult patients admitted to a burn center for treatment of a
serious burn injury who participated in the 36-session, aerobic treadmill
exercise program. Work to quota (WTQ) participants met their quotas, while
work to tolerance (WTT) participants continued to their tolerance. WTQ and
WTT participants showed significant improvement in their aerobic capacity,
but the control group did not. The respective improvements of the WTQ and
WTT groups did not differ significantly. "The aerobic capacity of
adult burn survivors can be improved with participation in a structured,
12-week exercise program after injury," according to B.J. Delateur and
colleagues. The study appears in Archives of Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation.
"San Joaquin Hospital to Open Burn Center, First
in Kern County"
Fox58 Bakersfield (02/28/08)
San
Joaquin Hospital in Bakersfield, Calif., is expected to open a burn center
by the fall of this year. "This will be a full Burn Center, anything
from a catastrophic burn to a minor burn, we will be able to accommodate
here," said hospital spokesman Jarrod McNaughton. California has 15
burn centers, but this will be the first in Kern County.
"Epistatic Interactions Are Critical to Gene-Association
Studies"
Journal of Burn Care & Research (02/01/2008) Vol. 29, No. 1, P. 168;
Barber, Robert C.; Chang, Ling-Yu E.; Lemaire, Susan M.
Gene-gene
(epistatic) interactions and other confounding factors could be key to
gene-association studies, which can yield conflicting observations between
single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and disease phenotypes. The
possibility is suggested by researchers' involvement with the
insertion/deletion polymorphism at -688 in the promoter region of
plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1). Researchers studied 149 patients
with 15 percent or less total body surface area burns, without significant
nonburn-related trauma, traumatic or anoxic brain injury or spinal cord
injury who survived more than 48 hours postadmission. The researchers
genotyped candidate polymorphisms in PAI-1 (-688), toll-like receptor 4
(+896), CD14 (-159), tumor necrosis factor-[alpha] (-308), and
interleukin-6 (-174). Although the PAI-1 SNP showed a significant
association with risk for death when evaluated in isolation by unadjusted
analysis, only age, full-thickness burn size, and CD14 genotype were
associated with increased mortality after adjustments for potential
confounders using multiple logistic regression were made. Therefore,
adjustments for interactions between multiple SNPs, injury or disease
characteristics, and demographic variables should be made in genetic
association analyses.
"Moldova Opens New Burn Center With U.S.
Help"
United States European Command (02/25/08) Clark, Dana M.
The
U.S. government collaborated with the government of Moldova to upgrade the
Thermal Trauma Section at the Republican Trauma and Orthopedic Hospital in
Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. In 2003, the Moldovan government requested
U.S. help and funding to upgrade the burn section of the hospital. The two
governments approved $767,000 in funding in 2004, and improvements began in
August 2005. The effort was facilitated by USEUCOM's Humanitarian
Assistance Branch in coordination with the Office of Defense Cooperation.
However, funding problems in Moldova in 2007 necessitated additional
assistance from the U.S. European Command and the Department of State. In
January 2008, some $400,000 in high tech supplies was delivered via
Operation Provide Hope and U.S. Army Medical Material Center Europe. The
thermal trauma section of the hospital was opened in a small ceremony in
Chisinau on Feb. 21. The project has enabled the hospital to add 37 beds, a
six-bed intensive care unit, two operating rooms, and a treatment and
rehabilitation unit.
"New $6.7M Burn Center at Nassau U Med
Center"
New York Daily News (02/21/08) Harmon, Brian
Nassau
University Medical Center's new 12,000-square-foot Nassau County (N.Y.)
Firefighters Burn Center will treat over 1,200 patients annually. Nassau
Health Care Corp. President and CEO Arthur Gianelli says, "The new
burn center enhances our mission to provide quality care by highly specialized
surgeons and nurses, with sophisticated equipment designed to ease
patients' excruciating pain, fend off complications and promote
healing." The facility can accommodate up to 18 patients and includes
a four-bed critical care unit and a six-bed acute care unit. Each room will
have a roll-in shower and a free-standing shower, as well as a glass front
for better viewing by nurses. The center will have occupational and
physical therapists, rehab specialists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and
others on hand to treat patients and speed up their recovery.
"How Long a Shadow Does Epidemic Obesity Cast in
the Burn Unit?"
Journal of Burn Care & Research (02/01/2008) Vol. 29, No. 1, P. 97;
Carpenter, Annette M.; Hollett, Lori P.; Jeng, James C.
Obese
patients were 4.1 times more likely to have a length of stay in a burn unit
of at least 7 days and were 2.6 times more likely to die than other
patients, according to an analysis of data in the National Burn Repository.
The researchers limited the measured outcomes to length of stay and
mortality because of the lack of standardized data fields in the
repository. Admissions from burn units between the years 2000 and 2006 were
analyzed. The findings show that obesity is a major challenge in burn care,
but also suggest ways in which the National Burn Repository can be improved
to enhance future nutrition research. Standardization of the data
dictionary and the addition of nutrition-related fields, such as height and
weight, could boost the repository's usefulness as a research tool for
dietitians.
"New Pediatric in Children Data Have Been
Reported by Scientists at University of Utah"
Medical Devices & Surgical Technology Week (02/24/08) P. 573
Scientists
at the University of Utah have studied the experience of Primary Children's
Medical Center in Salt Lake City with perioral burns after
adenotonsillectomy as well as the experience of other pediatric
otolaryngologists around the country. One institution had seven cases of
perioral burns from 4,327 procedures, with one injury requiring
reconstructive surgery. There were 124 perioral burns after
adenotonsillectomy, according to 61 of the 101 respondents of the survey.
The most common technique associated with perioral burns was Monopolar
cautery (84) followed by coblation (15). The most common cause of burn was
a defective electrocautery device tip (25), followed by operator error
(13), conduction through a metal instrument (8), and lack of insulation in
a cautery device (7). Fourteen reported injuries were severe enough to
require additional treatment. "Perioral burns are an underreported
complication of adenotonsillectomy that can result in severe long-term
morbidity," according to M.J. Nuara and colleagues.
"Yes, It’s the Sweet Truth: Honey Can Soothe a
Burn"
Indian Express (02/24/08)
The
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has laid to rest
several myths regarding home remedies for mild burns. The CDC reports that
the use of butter and other popular ointments can increase infection risks.
However, honey has shown anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties,
which can foster healing, according to a 2006 study. The study indicates
non-serious burns treated with gauze and a dab of honey healed faster on
average than those burns treated with antibiotic creams and other
dressings. However, doctors say a wet compress, immersing the burn in cool
water, and covering it with a sterile, non-adhesive bandage is the best
option.
"Camps Offer Young Burn Survivors a Chance to
Heal Emotionally"
Press Enterprise (Riverside, CA) (02/22/08) Santschi, Darrell R.
Burn survivors like Yadira Ihmud have been
attending burn camps for many years, getting support and emotional healing.
Often young people experience stares, questions, and pity, but at the camps
burn survivors are free from that. At Camp Beyond the Scars in Big Bear
Lake, Calif., survivors play in the snow, with dogs, and with board games,
finding trust and solidarity that is much harder to locate elsewhere.
"All the girls in my group have been coming a long time," she
says. They are my sisters, my friends." More than 50 survivors age
five to 18 attended the camp. The camp invites children to its winter camp
first, because they find it easier to connect to new people when they can
stay bundled up in winter clothing, and later feel confident enough at a
summer camp to wear a bathing suit. The camp staff finds their job
rewarding as well. "My first day here I couldn't stop crying, seeing
these kids having so much fun," says Sherry Owens, a registered nurse
from the Arrowhead burn center.
The
inclusion of articles in the IAFF Burn Foundation Briefing does not imply
the IAFF or IAFF Burn Foundation's endorsement of their content nor any
particular organizations or programs highlighted in these articles.
Articles are intended to increase awareness of media coverage of topics
relevant to our community and are provided for informational purposes only.
© Copyright 2008 INFORMATION, INC.
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