American Burn Association Burn Prevention Framework.

In February 2020, burn prevention experts from a variety of professional backgrounds gathered for a national Burn Prevention Summit. Through lively discussion and debate, this group came to a consensus on several core burn prevention concepts in order to create a framework for burn prevention program planning. The resulting document includes components of a successful program, a five-step process for program planning, best practices in messaging, and general advice from the summit attendees. This framework is designed for both novice professionals who are new to burn prevention programming development and experienced professionals who would like to strengthen existing programming.

A multicenter study of preventable contact burns from glass fronted gas fireplaces.

Glass fronted gas fireplaces (GFGFs) have exterior surfaces that can reach extremely high temperatures. Burn injuries from contact with the glass front can be severe with long-term sequelae. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that these injuries are uncommon, whereas single-center studies indicate a much higher frequency. The purpose of this multi-institutional study was to determine the magnitude and severity of GFGF injuries in North America. Seventeen burn centers elected to participate in this retrospective chart review. Chart review identified 402 children ≤10 years of age who sustained contact burns from contact with GFGF, who were seen or admitted to the study hospitals from January 2006 to December 2010. Demographic, burn, treatment, and financial data were collected. The mean age of the study group was 16.8 ± 13.3 months. The majority suffered burns to their hands (396, 98.5%), with burns to the face being the second, much less common site (14, 3.5%). Two hundred and sixty-nine required rehabilitation therapy (66.9%). The number of GFGF injuries reported was 20 times greater than the approximately 30 injuries estimated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission's 10-year review. For the affected children, these injuries are painful, often costly and occasionally can lead to long-term sequelae. Given that less than a quarter of burn centers contributed data, the injury numbers reported herein support a need for broader safety guidelines for gas fireplaces in order to have a significant impact on future injuries.

Multicenter assessment of burn team injury prevention knowledge.

Engaging burn professionals to utilize "teachable moments" and provide accurate fire safety and burn prevention (FSBP) education is essential in reducing injury incidence. Minimal data is available regarding burn clinicians' evidence-based FSBP knowledge. A committee of prevention professionals developed, pilot-tested, and distributed a 52-question online survey assessing six major categories: demographical information (n = 7); FSBP knowledge (n = 24); home FSBP practices (n = 6); burn center FSBP education (n = 7); self-assessed competence and confidence in providing FSBP education (n = 2); and improving ABA reach (n = 6). Responses with <50% completion of FSBP knowledge section were excluded. Total group's (TG) mean FSBP score of 61.5% was used to define and compare underperformers (UP). After excluding 36 incomplete responses, test scores ranged: TG (n = 427) 21-88% and UP (n = 183) 21-58%. Ten FSBP knowledge questions covering seven topics were incorrectly answered by >50% of TG. ANOVA showed self-reported competence and confidence in providing FSBP education were not good predictors of FSBP scores, but staff with <2 years experience scored lower. Over 90% of TG wants FSBP fact sheets for patient education. Burn professionals have a responsibility to educate patients, families, and communities on FSBP. Team members report competence and confidence in their ability to provide FSBP education. However, this multicenter survey demonstrates the need for professional training on best practices in injury prevention, specifically targeting knowledge gaps on: smoke alarms, fire-safe cigarettes, children's sleepwear, burn/fire epidemiology, fireworks, bathing/scald injuries, and residential sprinklers. Based on these findings, FSBP educational materials will be created.