Burns: prevention and first aid for burns

A burn is a serious damage to the skin and deeper tissues that occurs when exposed to high and low temperatures, electricity, chemicals or radiation. When it occurs, you can not hesitate: it is urgent to provide first aid to the victim and do it competently.

In this article, you will learn about the prevention of burns, their classification, first aid for the injured and associated injuries.

The structure of the skin and its damage when exposed to critical temperatures

The epidermis is the surface layer. Provides the body with protection from the environment. The epidermis is layered. Each layer differs in its cellular structure. There are five of them:

• basal;
• prickly;
• grainy;
• brilliant;
• horny.

Depending on the damage caused by fire of different tissue depths and different epidermal layers, the degree of burn will vary.

Dermis consists of connective tissue. Due to the content of collagen in it gives the skin elasticity. Dermis consists of papillary and reticular layers.

Layers of the dermis are involved in thermoregulation. Their healthy state can hold back thermal effects for some time and protect deeper tissues from damage.

Hypodermis is, in fact, subcutaneous fat. Healthy hypodermis provides reliable protection of internal organs from the thermal effects of various nature and mechanical damage.

Classification of burns by degree of damage

Given the strength of thermal effects and the depth of tissue damage, medicine distinguishes the following degrees of burns:

• first and second degrees: superficial or complete damage to the epidermis (almost complete restoration of the skin without the formation of scars and scars);
• the third A and B degrees: superficial or complete damage to the dermis (with such a strong degree of thermal exposure in 85% of cases, deep scars remain for the rest of your life);
• fourth, most serious degree: damage to all three layers of the skin (complete irreversible deformation of the skin occurs, followed by a violation of its main purpose).

Thermal burns: treatment and causes

For this type of damage to occur, contact with fire, boiling water or steam is necessary.

• When exposed to fire, the face, hands, upper body and respiratory tract are affected. At first aid, the victim is characterized by difficulties and confusion when removing burnt clothing. This often provokes the development of an infectious process.
• Boiling water is often scalded both children and adults. Most often the skin of the legs, feet, abdomen, hands. When boiling with boiling water, urgent treatment is necessary in a hospital setting. First aid consists of trying to remove clothes from the victim, cooling the affected area and promptly calling the doctors.
• Steam most often causes thermal burns of the first or second degree of difficulty. Most often, housewives and children suffer. First aid for thermal burns with steam is to treat the affected area with cool water.

Actions for a burn with a hot object

Damage to the skin surface with hot objects is a very serious and common damage. It can be a frying pan, an iron, kitchen utensils straight from the stove. At the site of exposure, as a rule, there are clear boundaries of the subject, which subsequently remain throughout the whole life in the form of scar tissue. First aid is a quick ambulance call.

In no case should you try to peel off damaged pieces of skin yourself, apply oil, sour cream, ointments and so on to them. If possible, you should free the affected area from tissue and clothing as much as possible. Then call an ambulance.

Thermal Burn Prevention

Prevention of thermal burns is as follows:

• Do not leave red-hot cooking utensils out of the reach of children.
• Do not leave the iron and electric stove turned on.
• When using a double boiler, care must be taken.
• You should not leave for a long time and leave children alone without attention.
• Care must be taken to ensure that there is no iron or kettle in the children’s access area.

Chemical burns: the nuances of treatment and the causes of the appearance

Contact with skin of special caustic substances causes complex burns. Treatment and prevention of chemical burns are distinguished by their duration and serious measures.

Most often, burns from acid and alkali occur in factories. In such circumstances, all employees must undergo rigorous fire training and know the rules for handling flammable liquids and chemicals - this is the basis of prevention in this case. After receiving chemical burns, serious and lengthy treatment in a hospital environment is required.

Contact with the epidermis of the following technical substances provokes the appearance of a burn of a chemical nature:

• The effect of technical acids most often causes relatively shallow lesions. After exposure, a burn scab forms. It prevents the penetration of acids and pus into the depths of the skin.
• When exposed to caustic alkali on the dermis, it is deeply affected. Most often, burns of the second and third degree are formed.
• Salts of some heavy metals provoke damage to the epidermis and dermis. Often are the cause of third degree burns. Hospital treatment is required. After the defeat of large areas of skin, the victim is assigned a disability.

Electric Burns

When the human body interacts with conductive material, electric burns form. The best preventive measure for such burns is strict adherence to safety precautions when using electrical appliances in enterprises and at home.

Electric current affects the whole body through the blood. To a lesser extent - through the skin, bones, muscle tissue. Fatal danger to life is current, the force of which exceeds 0.1 A.

Doctors subdivide electric burns by impact force into:

• low voltage;
• high voltage;
• supervoltaic.

This is a complex type of burns that leads to extensive internal injuries and often death. As a rule, there is a mark on the body of the victim. This is the point of entry and exit of the electric discharge. With such a serious burn, first aid is almost impossible outside the hospital. In most cases, surgery is required.

Burns from radiation exposure

Quite a rare type of damage. Most often, adults suffer. Such burns are provoked by the following factors:

• Exposure to ultraviolet radiation on the skin. It occurs mainly in the summer. The burns are shallow, but are characterized by a large area of ​​damage. Doctors attribute them to the first and second degree.
• Ionizing radiation causes damage to the skin without affecting the internal organs. The regeneration process slows down.
• Infrared radiation often causes eye damage. In most cases, the retina and cornea need urgent medical treatment. Depending on the intensity of radiation and the duration of exposure, burns can be both first or third degree.

Sunburn Prevention

The most common cause of sunburn is tanning in the summer. The Scandinavian and light European skin type is most susceptible to damage of this kind. For such skin, you need to choose a protective agent with a maximum protection coefficient. Measures to prevent burns will help to avoid them:

• From ten in the morning to sixteen in the evening, avoid exposure to direct sunlight, since at this time they are most active.
• Before going out into the open sun, always apply SPF cream (with an ultraviolet filter) on bare skin - it will prevent the appearance of burns.

During summer vacations at sea, the risk of such damage is especially high, so do not neglect these simple rules.

Prevention and first aid for burns due to sun exposure are to stop exposure to a hazardous source. It is urgent to remove the patient from the sun, placing him in a cool room. A cold wet compress should be placed on the forehead.

Prevention of burns and injuries is always easier than their subsequent treatment. Therefore, it is easier not to go out in the sun at lunch time - this is the easiest way to avoid long-term treatment.

Prevention of household burns

According to statistics from the Russian Emergencies Ministry, most of the burns occur in a domestic environment. Alas, adolescents and children are often affected. And the cause of their injuries is the incompetence and irresponsibility of the parents. Prevention of frostbite and burns has much in common: first of all, it is an attentive and responsible attitude to order and safety and knowledge of the rules of first aid.

Compliance with simple household safety rules will help to successfully avoid burns and injuries associated with them:

• Do not use or keep appliances with damaged insulation in the house.
• When disconnecting the device from the outlet, the base of the plug must be held directly. You can’t pull the wire, it is fraught with a short in the wiring and subsequent fire.
• Do not repair electrical appliances and wiring in the apartment yourself.
• In a room with high humidity, you should limit the use of electrical appliances.
• Do not leave children unattended.
• Care must be taken to ensure that there is no iron or kettle in the children’s access area.
• The hot plates of the electric stove, pans and pots on the stove should be isolated from the child.
• It is necessary to conduct explanatory discussions with older children, to inform about fire fighting.
• Smoking in bed is a common cause of domestic fires.
• It is necessary to install and configure a fire alarm in those places where the likelihood of ignition is maximum.
• It is recommended to have a fire extinguisher in the house.

First-aid step-by-step instructions

Everyone should know what is the procedure for receiving thermal damage. Prevention of burns and first aid provided competently - this is very important.

Here is a step-by-step instruction:

• elimination of a thermal source - fire, iron, boiling water, steam, acid, electricity;
• cooling the affected areas with room temperature water or air;
• calling and waiting for ambulance employees;
• the application of an aseptic dressing is possible only if the person providing the necessary skills has the necessary skills;
• anesthesia - in the presence of special anesthetics.

Conservative first aid for burns

If the damage is superficial, then you can give the patient conservative first aid on your own. This is possible with burns of the first and, maximum, second degrees. Therapy is also used in the case of deep lesions, after the patient is in the hospital and surgery.

Conservative care for the patient is as follows:

• closed method - applying dressings and compresses with anesthetic and antibacterial medicine;
• open method - the use of bacterial filters, disinfecting UV lamps, exposure to special irradiating and accelerating healing devices.

Prevention of burn complications cannot be properly implemented by a person without a medical education. Regardless of the degree of injury received, it is necessary to show the patient to the doctor, he will prescribe a course of pharmacological treatment and prescribe physiotherapy.