Pediatric Burn Prevention and Treatment

There are many different causes of burns in children and can cause permanent injury and scarring to skin. If you are looking for treatment then visit Broadway Family Clinic. Please call us for more information or book an appointment online. We serve patients from Pearland TX, Shadow Creek Ranch TX, Southern Trail TX, Pomona TX, Southlake TX, Sienna Plantation TX, Fresno TX, Manvel TX and Rosharon TX.

Most people have, or know someone who has a story about a child being burned and learning the concept of “hot” the hard way. Every day 300 children between the ages of 0-19 are treated for injuries related to burns in the emergency room. Burn awareness week has helped increase the public awareness and has lowered the number of injuries and fatalities caused by burns, fires and scalding. It brings attention to some of the most common ways children get burned and how parents and caregivers can help with preventing accidents like this from happening.

SCALDING

A burn sustained from a hot liquid or steam is called a scald. Anyone can be scaled but this is a type of burn you see often in younger children. Here are some tips to prevent scalding:

• Keep your hot water tank 120℉ or lower. By keeping the temperature lower, it prevents the tap water from being able to reach temperatures hot enough to burn.
• Remember to always check bathwater before putting your child in the bathtub and never leave them unattended. Children can accidentally turn on the hot water. This could increase the temperature which could cause a risk of scalding.
• Make a “child-free zone” around stoves or hot items in the kitchen. Until children are old enough to understand all of the dangers in the kitchen it is best to keep them a safe distance from things that could harm them. Depending on the age of the children and the space in your kitchen, sometimes making the kitchen “Off limits” while cooking can help or creating a visual barrier by placing tape on the floor.
• To prevent pots and pans from being pulled off the stove, make sure to turn handles towards the back of the stove. This will help them from being grabbed, knocked off or pulled off accidentally.
• Younger children can accidentally pull off a table cloth and bring cookware or hot liquids with the. Avoid using tablecloths when possible and never leave a container with hot liquids (bowl, cup, etc.) at the edge of a counter or table where a child could reach.

BURNS FROM COOKING

The top cause of burns and fires in homes is cooking. This is a focus for burn prevention. Burns from flames or hot objects are more likely the type of accidents you will see in older kids rather than scalds. Follow these tips when cooking to prevent burns in children and adults:

• Never leave the stove unattended while on. This is a common occurrence even though it seems logical.
• Make sure to test the temperature of your food and stir when using a microwave. Food is not always heated evenly when using a microwave which leaves some portions hotter than others. For this reason, you should never heat milk or formula in a microwave.
• Never hold children while cooking, carrying hot food or liquids, or removing food from the stove or microwave.
• Make sure children stay a safe distance away when using a grill, barbeque or a smoker. Make sure they understand that it is very hot and will remain hot for many hours after use.
• Give your children appropriate cooking tasks to allow them to learn how to cook safely.
• Make sure children are a safe distance from any hot oil or while frying foods. Use splash guards or a pot lid to prevent burns from splatter from grease.

OTHER BURN PREVENTION

It is the most common, however, cooking is not the only way people suffer accidents caused by burns. While some items seem more obvious than others, there are many things in the home that can cause burns. Here are some tips on burn prevention in other parts of the house:

• Make sure to check outlets and electrical cords often for wear and tear, fraying and other damage that could cause heat or fire. Cords can become hot or catch nearby materials on fire if they are damaged due to the impairment or their heat retention.
• Do not overload your power bars or electrical outlets. These can become hot, melt plastics, cause burns or fires if they have too much electricity running through them. If they are too hot to touch, they need to be moved to a different outlet to avoid overloading.
• Check space heaters and other heating devices to ensure they are working properly. Keep these items out of reach of children.
• If you have a fireplace, do not allow children to play on or around it. The surface can get very hot. Make sure the fireplace is cleaned well before you use it.
• Teaching children not to play with lighters, fireworks or matches is a good way to talk about heat, fires and fire safety. A great game to play with preschool-aged children is to create a sorting game. Show children images of what items may be hot and which ones are not.
• Have a working fire extinguisher at home. Make sure everyone in the family knows where it is and for those that are old enough, make sure they know how to use it.

BASIC FIRST AID FOR BURNS

It is important to know how to treat a burn if someone in your family does sustain an injury.

1. Make sure everyone is safe from the cause of the burn and the person who has sustained the injury is out of harm’s way.

2. Remove any clothing, belts, jewelry, other items that are near or possibly restricting the burned area quickly before the burn swells.

3. For minor burns, run the affected area under cool water to help cool the area. Do not use cold water! Make sure it is cool. You can also apply a cool, wet compress. Minor burns are burns under 3 inches. Don’t immerse large burns in water.

4. Major burns are burns need immediate medical attention. These are burns that are charred, are deep or have caused a dry and leathery area on skin. Burns larger than 3 inches are also considered large burns.

5. Protect the area and keep air off of it by covering the burn with a bandage or a loose, clean cloth. Be sure to it is not putting pressure on the burn.

6. To help with the pain of the burn you can provide an age-appropriate dose of a pain reliever if needed.

Working together to learn about burns and fire safety helps everyone. Follow the tips above and remember, in the event of an accident, we are always close by.