School holidays, Burns Awareness Month

Burns prevention has been high on the agenda this month as part of National Burns Awareness Month and with school holidays just around the corner a Townsville Hospital paediatrician is urging parents to take care.

Paediatric surgeon Dr Dan Carroll said with the cooler weather, many families would be camping around fires.

“The most important thing for people to remember is that prevention is always better than cure,” Dr Carroll said.

“The main thing we can do is put out fires with water instead of sand to stop children from treading on the hot surface, being careful when riding quad bikes or motorbikes and always wearing protective clothing when on them.

“It’s also important to keep small children out of the kitchen when cooking and being careful when walking with hot drinks such as tea or coffee.

“We understand that accidents happen; however, the biggest tragedy is when a burn occurs in a manner that could have been prevented and with school holidays just around the corner we know these messages are particularly timely.”

Dr Carroll said it was also essential that parents understood what basic first aid could be administered before bringing their child in to the hospital.

“The biggest misconception is that you have to treat a burn straight away and that’s not true; you can treat a burn up to six hours after it has occurred,” he said.

“The best way to do this is to run cool water over the affected area for 20 minutes and to avoid using ice as it can make it worse.

“Another big misconception is that you don’t have to bring someone who has a burn to hospital.

“This is a myth we want to dispel as it can potentially lead to burns becoming infected.

“We all want to do the best for our children and part of looking out for them includes taking preventative measures to keep them safe and prioritising their health by bringing them in if you are concerned.”

Cairns mother Sherrilea Smith said National Burns Awareness Month was even more important for her family, who were currently working through a burns accident with help from The Townsville Hospital’s paediatric and allied health teams.

“My two boys were playing in the backyard when a camp cooker knocked onto my son Isaac and burnt his legs, chest and arms,” Mrs Smith said.

“We immediately turned the hose on so we could get cold water on to his body and a minute later we moved him into a cold shower; however, I wasn’t aware of just how important that 20 minutes of cold water was until I arrived at the emergency department in Cairns and they told me.

“The biggest pieces of advice I have for parents is know what steps to take after a burn occurs and to please take anyone affected by a burn in to the hospital.

“For me, Isaac’s burns didn’t look bad at the start but looking at the severity of them now I’m incredibly glad that I called triple zero straight away and took him in.”

Mrs Smith said she hoped that no other families would have to go through what her family has in the past few weeks.

“It’s not something that any mother or family should have to go through and unfortunately with these incidents you have to learn from others’ misfortune,” Mrs Smith said.

“However, I truly hope that everyone takes in the advice and keeps it in mind.

“You always hope that you’ll never need it, but the day you do, you’ll be happy you have it.”

Dr Carroll said that Isaac was recovering well and had been a very brave young man.

“Isaac was bought down to Townsville from Cairns because he had specialist care which included several skin grafts,” Dr Carroll said.

“Sherrilea did everything right and her quick-thinking actions have made a big difference to Isaac’s treatment and recovery.”

National Burns Awareness Month is an initiative run by Kidsafe Australia and staff can access an array of resources at the following link.

Contact: Public Affairs 4433 1016 | 0409 265 298