Fire and Burn Injury

Injuries associated with fire and burns

A burn is a devastating and extremely painful injury. An Alabama burn injury can be caused by a variety of agents, such as heat, chemicals, electricity or sunlight. Scalds, building fires, flammable liquids, and gases cause the most common serious burns.

Burns are classified based upon severity of damage to the skin and divided into three different categories:

• First-degree burns affect only the outer layer (called the epidermis) of the skin.

• Second-degree burns damage the epidermis and the layer beneath it (called the dermis).

• Third-degree burns involve damage or destruction of all layers of skin and damage to underlying tissues. People who experience such burns often require skin grafting.

The swelling and blistering associated with burns is caused by the loss of fluid from damaged blood vessels. In severe cases this fluid loss can cause shock, requiring the burn victim to have an immediate blood or salt solution transfusion to restore adequate fluid levels in order to maintain blood pressure.

According to the American Burn Association, each year in the United States 1.1 million burn injuries require medical attention, and that’s just the beginning:

• Approximately 50,000 of those with burn injuries require hospitalization, and roughly half of those burn patients are admitted to a specialized burn unit.

• Each year, approximately 4,500 burn injury victims die.

• Up to 10,000 people in the United States die every year of burn-related infections; pneumonia is the most common infectious complication among hospitalized burn patients.

The most common complications suffered by a burn injury victim include:

• Scarring

• Cosmetic deformity

• Sepsis - the presence of bacteria or their toxins in the blood or tissues

• Adult respiratory distress syndrome

• Death

Twenty years ago, burns covering half the body were routinely fatal. Today, patients with burns covering 90 percent of the body can survive but they often suffer permanent injury. Contributing to the improved survival rate are advances in resuscitation, wound cleaning and follow-up care, nutritional support, and infection control. Grafting with natural or artificial materials can also aid the healing process. Victims who have suffered a burn injury often need to recover from not just the devastating physical affects but the emotional trauma as well.

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Cory Watson Crowder & DeGaris, P.C.
2131 Magnolia Avenue
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