A burn center, burn unit, or burns unit is a

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

specializing in the treatment of

burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ionizing radiation (such as sunburn, caused by ultraviolet radiation). Most burns are due to heat from hot fluids (called scalding), soli ...

s. Burn centers are often used for the treatment and recovery of patients with more severe burns.

Overview

The severity of a burn, and therefore whether a referral will be made after the patient is treated and stabilized, differs depending upon many factors, among them: the age of the victim (burns to infants and toddlers or to those over age 65 are generally more serious, particularly if the face, head, respiratory system, chest, abdomen, groin, or extremities are burned; those who are not in these age groups can be more affected if they are or were already ill, injured, or immunocompromised), the total body surface area that is burned (the rule of nines), if proper treatment and referrals are delayed or the wrong treatments are given, if the burns are of the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th degree (the bigger and deeper, the worse it is), the source (if it was due to a chemical, or from a scald, or fire, or radiation, the treatment regimen has to be modified appropriately), or if skin grafting is not feasible and/or important organs are harmed.

Burn team

A burn center needs a team approach for the management of critically burned patients. Usually, the burns management team consists of a plastic surgeon, intensivist, chest physician, general surgeon,

Anesthesiologist Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative medicine, perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critica ...

, Respiratory Therapist, pediatrician, nurses and technicians,

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

, nutritionist, physiotherapist, and social worker. Early burn wound excision and immediate wound cover can improve the chances of survival in major burn cases.

Lists of burn centers

* List of burn centres in Australia * List of burn centres in Canada * List of burn centres in Bahrain * List of burn centres in the United Kingdom * List of burn centers in the United States

References

Hospital departments Burns {{hospital-stub