News
February 3-9 is National Burn Awareness Week and this year’s theme is Be Burn Aware. So, here are some facts you need to be aware of:
- Each year 1.55 million people suffer burn injuries in Canada and the United States. About 60,000 of these injuries require hospitalization – almost half of them in specialized burn centres.
- 42% of persons burned in fires are between 20 and 44 years of age.
- The ignition of flammable liquids and substances such as cooking fats and gasoline are major causes of burn injuries from fire.
- A burn involves the destruction of skin cells, and sometimes the underlying structures of muscle, fascia and bone. It occurs when these structures absorb more heat than they can dissipate.
- In British Columbia,42% of all burn injuries are caused by hot liquids or vapours.
- Persons aged 1 to 14 years have the second highest incidence of burn injuries from fire.
- The majority of Canadian parents aren’t aware of the scald and burn hazards in their homes. A survey by Safe Kids Canada found that 70% of Canadian parents did not know that the most common cause of burn injuries to children is scalds from hot liquids, such as spilled hot drinks and hot tap water, rather than fire.
- Each year an estimated 9,000 children in Canada visit hospital emergency room for burns, and almost half of these have suffered scalds from hot liquids. Close to 1,000 Canadian children are hospitalized each year for severe scalds and burns and approximately 50% of these children are hospitalized for scalds alone.
- Children and older adults, because they have thinner skin, get severe burns at lower temperatures and in less time than an adult. Exposure for just three seconds to water which is 60 degrees C (the temperature of the average home’s hot water as it comes from the tap) can result in a full thickness or third degree burn on a child or an older adult. This burn would require hospitalization and skin grafts.
- An adult would have to be exposed to the same temperature for up to five seconds to get the same degree of burn. At a higher temperature, the time required to get a serious burn can be reduced to a fraction of a second.
While you can never anticipate a burn, it takes only a fraction of a second to have a mishap that can last a lifetime. That is why Vernon Fire Rescue Services wants to remind you to be aware of the dangers that surround you and use caution to protect your families and yourself from the pain of getting burned! -Deputy Fire Chief Lawrie Skolrood from Vernon Fire-Rescue Services (VFRS)