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Scald
Second-degree burns additionally fill with clear fluid,
have superficial blistering of the skin, and can involve Scalding is a specific type of burning that is caused by hot
more or less pain depending on the level of nerve fluids. Examples of common liquids that cause scalds are water
involvement. Second-degree burns involve the and cooking oil. Steam is a common gas that causes scalds. The
superficial (papillary) dermis and may also involve the injury is usually regional and usually does not cause death.
deep (reticular) dermis layer. More damage can be caused if hot liquids can enter an orifice.
However, deaths have occurred in more unusual circumstances,
such as when people have accidentally broken a steam pipe.
Third-degree burns additionally have charring of the
skin, and produce hard, leather-like eschars. An eschar
is a scab that has separated from the unaffected part of Assessing burns
the body. Frequently, there is also purple fluid. These Main article: Total body surface area
types of burns are often painless (insensate) because
nerve endings have been destroyed in the involved Burns are assessed in terms of total body surface area (TBSA),
areas. which is the percentage affected by partial thickness or full
thickness burns (superficial thickness burns are not counted).
A newer classification of "Superficial Thickness", "Partial The rule of nines is used as a quick and useful way to estimate
Thickness" (which is divided into superficial and deep the affected TBSA.
categories) and "Full Thickness" relates more precisely to the Table 2. Rule of nines for assessment of total body surface area
epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous layers of skin and is used to affected by a burn
guide treatment and predict outcome. Anatomic structure Surface area
Head 9%
Table 1. A description of the traditional and current Anterior Torso 18%
classifications of burns. Posterior Torso 18%
Nomenclature Traditional nomenclature Depth Clinical Each Leg 18%
findings Each Arm 9%
Superficial thickness First-degree Epidermis Genitalia/perineum 1%
involvement Erythema, minor pain, lack of blisters
Partial thickness — superficial Second-degree Management
Superficial (papillary) dermis Blisters, clear fluid,
and pain
Partial thickness — deep Second-degree Deep (reticular) The first step in managing a person
dermis Whiter appearance, with decreased pain. Difficult to with a burn is to stop the burning
distinguish from full thickness
Full thickness Third- or fourth-degree Dermis and process.
underlying tissue and possibly fascia, bone, or muscleHard, With dry powder burns, the powder should be brushed off first.
leather-like eschar, purple fluid, no sensation (insensate) With other burns, the affected area should be rinsed with a large
amount of clean water to remove foreign bodies and help stop
Serious burns, especially if they cover large areas of the body, the burning process. Cold water should never be applied to any
can cause death; any hint of burn injury to the lungs, for person with extensive burns, as it may severely compromise the
example through smoke inhalation, is a medical emergency. burn victim's temperature status.
Chemical burns are usually caused by chemical compounds, At this stage of management, it is also critical to assess airway
such as sodium hydroxide (lye), silver nitrate, and more serious status. If the patient was involved in a fire, then he or she has
compounds (such as sulfuric acid). Note that most chemicals inhalation injury until proven otherwise, and should be managed
(but not all) that can cause moderate to severe chemical burns accordingly.
are strong acids or bases. Nitric acid is possibly one of the worst
burn-causing chemicals, as an oxidizer. Hydrofluoric acid can Once the burning process has been stopped, and airway status is
eat down to the bone and its burns are often not immediately ensured, the patient should be volume resuscitated according to
the Parkland formula. This formula dictates that the amount of If the victim is breathing, then the personnel
Lactated Ringer's solution to deliver in the first twenty four calculates the breathing rate.
hours after time of injury is: If the victim’s breathing rate is greater than 30 per minute, then
Fluid = 4cc x %TBSA x weight in kg the victim is tagged with a red label requesting immediate care
%TBSA excludes any first degree burn because that is one of the primary signs for shock.
Half of this fluid should be given in the first eight hours post If the victim’s breathing rate is less than 30 per
injury and the rest in the subsequent sixteen hours. The formula minute, then perfusion will take place.
is a guide only and infusions must be tailored to urine output During the perfusion phase, the victim’s pulse and
and central venous pressure. Inadequate fluid resuscitation circulatory function are checked.
causes renal failure and death.
If the victim lacks a radial pulse, then immediate attention is
required, and thus tagged with a red label.
START is an acronym for Simple Triage and Rapid
Treatment, and is defined as being a method that first responders If the radial pulse is present, then the personnel
use to effectively and efficiently evaluate all of the victims evaluates the victim’s mental status.
during a mass casualty incident (MCI) [1]. The first-arriving
medical personnel will use a triage tool called a triage tag to The personnel will ask the victim to follow simple commands.
categorize the victims by the severity of their injury. Once they If the victim is successful, then he is labeled with the yellow tag;
have a better handle of the MCI, the on-scene personnel will call medical attention can be delayed to a recommended one hour.
in to request for the additional appropriate resources and assign If the victim is not able to follow simple commands, then he is
the incoming emergency service personnel their tasks. The labeled with the red tag; immediate care is needed because the
victims will be easily identifiable in terms of what the situation may be life threatening.
appropriate care is needed by the triage tags they were
administered. This method was developed by the staff members To check the victim’s circulatory function, a blanch
of Hoag Hospital [2] and by the staff members of the Newport test [4] is conducted. Generally, the test is done at
Beach Fire Department [3] located in CA. the tip of the finger. The personnel will apply
pressure to the nail bed until it turns white.
Procedure
The whole evaluation process is generally conducted in 60 Depending on the response time of how fast the blood flows
seconds or less. Once the evaluation is complete, the victims are back to the finger, the victim will be labeled with the yellow tag
labeled with one of the four triage categories. (medical attention can be delayed for up to an hour), or with the
red tag (immediate care is needed).
Minor delayed care / can delay up to three hours If the blanch test took more than two seconds, then the victim
needs immediate care.
Delayed urgent care / can delay up to one hour If the blanch test took less than two seconds, then
the mental status of the victim is evaluated.
Immediate immediate care / life-threatening If the victim can follow simple commands, then he will be
tagged with the yellow label, otherwise the red label.
Deceased victim is dead / no care required
Below is a concise graphical view of START.
When medical personnel first arrive on the scene, they quickly
assess the situation and do a call-out; they ask that any victim
who is able to walk to separate themselves from non-ambulatory
victims and to relocate to a certain area, or they may be asked to Pediatric START
assist the medical personnel with the other non-ambulatory
victims. These ambulatory victims are either uninjured or have There have been organizations that have adopted the procedures
minor injuries that no not need immediate care so they are of START and modified it to provide better treatment for
labeled with a green tag (minor). children. Lou E. Roming MD, FAAP, FACEP, created
JumpSTART, which is a derivative approach of START that
With the non-ambulatory victims, personnel assess their caters to the needs of children during a MCI. The Utah Bureau
respiratory, circulatory, and neurological functions, and based on of Emergency Medical Services developed a training program
those conditions the patient is labeled with one of the three [5] for teaching JumpSTART. Psychological studies have shown
remaining triage categories (i.e. delayed, immediate, dead). that people react outside of their ordinary scope of behavior
when placed in a stressful environment; children's bodies are
The victim’s respiratory function is accessed first. more fragile than adults, and thus it is important to handle
If the victim is not breathing, then the personnel will try to clear children with more care because they lack the experience
the airway and perform any airway maneuvers to get the victim compared to adults to take care of themselves until help arrives.
breathing.
If all attempts fail, then the victim is presumed dead, and Botulism (from Latin botulus, "sausage") is a rare but serious
thus tagged with the black label. paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin, botulin, that is
produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Botulin is
the most potent known toxin, blocking nerve function and reason, it is advised that neither honey, nor any other sweetener,
leading to respiratory and musculoskeletal paralysis. should be given to children until they are weaned.
There are three main kinds of botulism: The leading explanation for why some infants become infected
Foodborne botulism is a form of foodborne illness and is caused with C. botulinum is that infants do not yet have sufficient
by eating foods that contain the botulism toxin. numbers of resident microbiota in their intestines to
Wound botulism is caused by toxin produced from a wound competitively exclude C. botulinum. Thus, without competition,
infected with Clostridium botulinum, this is, also, the most rare C. botulinum is able to establish itself in the gut of an infant.
type of botulism.
Infant botulism is caused by consuming the spores of the Botulinum toxin
botulinum bacteria, which then grow in the intestines and
release toxin. Botulinum toxin blocks the release of acetylcholine from nerve
endings thus arresting their function. This toxin is unstable to
All forms of botulism can be fatal and are considered medical heating, or on prolonged exposure to oxygen, so poisoning
emergencies. Foodborne botulism can be especially dangerous generally occurs from the use of improperly bottled or canned
as a public health problem because many people can be foods: typical instances of botulism would be home-bottled
poisoned from a single contaminated food source. preserves used in salads. An unusual example of botulism
occurred in Britain in the exceptionally hot, dry summer of
In the United States an average of 110 cases of botulism are 1976, when river levels dropped so low in some areas that
reported each year. Of these, approximately 25% are foodborne, feeding swans accidentally ingested material from anaerobic
72% are infant botulism, and 3% are wound botulism. layers in a river (normally out of their reach), and were struck
Outbreaks of foodborne botulism involving two or more persons by botulism symptoms.
occur during most years and usually are caused by eating
contaminated home-canned foods. The number of cases of Botulinum toxin is also used cosmetically, for example in
foodborne and infant botulism has changed little in recent years, reducing facial wrinkles or excessive transpiration, and is
but wound botulism has increased because of the use of black commercially known as Botox.
tar heroin, especially in California[1].
Diagnosis
Symptoms (foodborne and wound forms)
Physicians may consider the diagnosis if the patient's history
Classic symptoms of botulism occur between 12-36 hours after and physical examination suggest botulism. However, these
consuming the botulinum toxin, but they can occur as early as 6 clues are usually not enough to allow a diagnosis of botulism.
hours or as late as 10 days. Those symptoms usually include dry Other diseases such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, stroke, and
mouth, difficulty swallowing, slurred speech, muscle weakness, myasthenia gravis can appear similar to botulism, and special
double vision, vomiting, and severe diarrhea, along with a tests may be needed to exclude these other conditions. These
progressive muscle paralysis. These are all symptoms of the tests may include a brain scan, cerebrospinal fluid examination,
muscle paralysis caused by the bacterial toxin. If untreated, nerve conduction test (electromyography, or EMG), and a
these symptoms may progress to cause paralysis of the arms, Edrophonium Chloride (Tensilon) test for myasthenia gravis.
legs, trunk, respiratory muscles, and possibly eventual death. In The most direct way to confirm the diagnosis is to demonstrate
all cases the toxin made by C. botulinum causes illness, not the the botulinum toxin in the patient's serum or stool by injecting
bacterium itself. serum or stool into mice and looking for signs of botulism. The
bacteria can also be isolated from the stool of persons with
Infant botulism foodborne and infant botulism.