Essential Burn Care for Non-Burn Specialists

Despite a decreasing number of burns and improvement in mortality of burn patients in the United States, burn injuries are still frequent, and there are about 486,000 burn injuries requiring medical treatment each year. There are only 128 burn centers in the United States with some states having none.  Non-burn specialists such as emergency medicine physicians, primary care physicians, pediatricians, and Advanced Practice Providers will inevitably treat burn patients, especially for small burns.  In many instances, the first clinicians to see burn patients are non-burn specialists in the urgent care, ED or family medicine clinic yet they typically do not have any formal training or exposure to burn injuries in residency or medical school as it is not a routine curriculum. As a result of this, many clinicians feel uneasy about managing burn patients even if the burn is minor. If a burn center is in a reasonable proximity, one can transfer the patient, but prior to transfer, or if no burn center is available, these clinicians may have to do the initial treatment. It is extremely important that these physicians understand the basic principles of burn care. In times of burn disasters and mass casualty incidents, non-burn specialists are needed to care for burn patients because burn centers can be quickly overwhelmed.  It is reasonable to expect non-burn specialists to take care of them in their hospitals and ICUs.  They should be able to manage burn patients, at least in the early part of the initial management, which includes stabilization, resuscitation and caring for burn wounds. The text includes all current burn management information available today for the care of burn patients. It is organized in a stepwise manner with clear information listed in sequential chapter formats. Chapter one offers the basic epidemiology of burn care while chapters two and three discuss the initial assessment and management. Chapter four teaches physicians to understand when a patient should be referred to a burn center while the next three chapters discuss inhalation injury, airway management and escharotomy, respectively.  Chapter eight focuses on burn wound management while chapter nine details susceptibility to infection and proper use of antibiotics. The majority of chapters that follow center on a specific type of burn or burn patient. These include pediatric burns, elderly burns, electrical burns, chemical burns, facial burns, hand burns, burn disasters and outpatient burns. The last few chapters discuss aftercare including scar management and burn rehabilitation.   Written by experts in the field, Essential Burn Care for Non-Burn Specialists is a valuable guide for non-burn specialists such as emergency physicians, primary care physicians, pediatricians, general and plastic surgeons, medical students and residents as well as any physician involved in burn treatment.