Cape Town - As people resort to heaters, kettles, stoves, and fireplaces to remain warm this winter, the season of children being at risk of burns also approaches.
Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital Trauma Unit, last year, treated 742 children for burns, with 592 children treated for the most common cause of burns, hot liquids. The hospital also added that burns caused by flames saw 67 cases, and a further 38 children were treated for touching or coming into contact with very hot surfaces such as heaters and hotplates on stoves.
Executive director of ChildSafe, Zaitoon Rabaney, said: “Winter is the time when children are most at risk of burns. There is a lot of hotter food and drink around, and generally, trying to stay warm with heaters and fires. All potential risks for burns in children. A child’s skin is thinner than an adult’s. This makes them more susceptible to harsher burns that have long-term impacts. Burn victims face prolonged and painful treatment. In many cases, burn victims are physically disabled and scarred for life."
With the need for public awareness, the head of the Burns Unit at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, Gary Dos Passos, said that parents and caregivers play an important role to be aware of the potential risks of burns and practical steps to reduce or prevent this.
“Over 1000 children are treated at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, the tertiary referral centre for Paediatric Burns in the Western Cape, every year for a variety of burns injuries, including hot water or liquid burns, contact burns, and flame burns.
“Liquid burns (coffee, tea, porridge/pap, soup, bath water) are most prevalent in the younger toddler age group (up to about three years old). This is likely due to them becoming more mobile and exploring their environment. Flame burns are fewer but much more significant and carry an increased risk of dying.
“Not all burns need admission, but all burns need appropriate wound care, rehabilitative intervention, and prevention education. At the hospital, we treat burns in the ward setting as well as in the outpatient setting. Admission is based on a set of criteria that has been developed. Factors that are used to decide on admission include (but are not limited to): Type of burn, the location of the burn (e.g. face, leg, torso, etc.), and the extent of the burn (total body surface area), and depth of the burn.
“It’s important to note that the burden of care with bigger burns is also then quite high as the child must go to the theatre more and requires more support (nursing care, rehabilitation, etc.) over and above the already increased medical/surgical intervention.
“Public awareness is extremely important because often burns are preventable, and burns are devastating injuries with substantial lifelong physical and psychosocial consequences for the affected survivors and their families. Young children can be burned very quickly, especially as we enter the winter months, and this often happens when an adult is present, so it is important to always be alert when you use candles, paraffin stoves, and open fires,” said Dos Passos.
ChildSafe recommends safety tips like turning pot handles away when cooking, keeping cords and matches or lighters out of reach, blowing out candles when not in use, and keeping children away from heaters.
In case of a minor burn, they remind that nothing, aside from running tap water, should be applied to the wound and the patient be rushed to the nearest clinic or doctor.