Burn center


A burn center, burn ward, burn unit, or burns unit is a hospital specializing in the treatment of burns. 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, the total body surface area that is burned, 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 source, 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, respiratory therapist, pediatrician, nurses and technicians, microbiologist, psychiatrist, 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