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ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCIES*
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*The authors acknowledge the special contributions of Mark Silverberg, Teresa Bowen Spinelli, and Chaiya Laoteppitaks to prior edition.
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The extent of burn-related injury depends on the amount of heat, the delivery medium (gas, liquid, solid, or vapor), and the duration of contact. Scald burns are most common in children. The majority of thermal injuries occur within the home, and approximately 60% of pediatric burn patients are male. In the United States, burn-related injuries in children result in approximately 300 ED visits and 2 deaths daily. Burns can be graded by depth and amount of damage.
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Emergency Department Treatment and Disposition
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Most thermal burns can be treated in the outpatient setting with appropriate follow-up with a burn specialist as clinically indicated. Pain should be managed as soon as possible in all patients presenting for burn management. Extent of the burn should be estimated using 1 of the following methods: Lund-Browder chart (most accurate), rule of nines (adults only; pediatric version available), or palmar surface (palm + finger tips = 1% burn surface area). Minor burns involve <10% body surface area (BSA) and do not involve the airway, hands, face, or genitalia. Minor burn management requires local wound management consisting of cooling methods (tepid water 55–65°F or 13–18°C) to reduce extension of burn, cleaning, debridement, topical antimicrobial application, and dressing. Controversy exists regarding unroofing intact blisters. The wound should be irrigated with cool saline, and necrotic skin should be debrided. A topical antimicrobial ointment such as a triple-antibiotic ointment and/or an advanced burn dressing should be applied. Silver sulfadiazine has been commonly used in the past but may lead to a delay in wound healing. A sterile dressing should then be applied and the patient should be provided adequate analgesics and close follow-up.
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For significant (>10% BSA) and major (>20% BSA) thermal injuries in patients with preexisting medical conditions, the possibility of multiorgan failure needs to be anticipated, and screening labs such as a CBC, electrolytes, glucose, BUN, creatinine, creatine phosphokinase, and urinalysis should be ordered. Any history or signs of significant smoke inhalation (carbonaceous sputum, hoarse voice, singed nasal hair, or evidence of hypoxia) should prompt a CXR. All patients who were in a fire should have carboxyhemoglobin (CO-Hgb) concentration determined from a venous blood sample. A pulse oximetry level (>96%) without visual signs of oral burns and a normal venous CO-Hgb level (<5%) virtually rules out the possibility of inhalation injury. Patients with CO-Hgb levels above baseline should be placed on high-flow oxygen to help dissociate the carbon monoxide (CO) from their hemoglobin. Patients with significant CO-Hgb levels require transfer to a hyperbaric chamber. Hyperbaric oxygen has been shown to decrease the long-term ...