{"id":8140,"date":"2020-06-23T10:51:38","date_gmt":"2020-06-23T00:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/?p=8140"},"modified":"2020-07-07T14:57:41","modified_gmt":"2020-07-07T04:57:41","slug":"spike-in-burns-cases-prompts-push-for-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/spike-in-burns-cases-prompts-push-for-prevention\/","title":{"rendered":"Spike in burns cases prompts push for prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Words: Alanah Frost, Herald Sun<\/strong><\/p>\n

Photography: Rob Leeson, Herald Sun<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spike in burns cases prompts push for prevention<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coronavirus could be having an impact on the number of children treated for burns, with a spike in numbers prompting calls for increased awareness around young kids\u2019 exposure to hot liquids.<\/p>\n

Kids have been treated for burns at a record rate this year, prompting renewed calls for awareness and prevention.<\/p>\n

The Royal Children\u2019s Hospital has already treated 18 children with burns from hot noodles this year, compared with 20 kids for the whole of 2019.<\/p>\n

There have also been more children hospitalised for major burns than the total number admitted in any other year in the last decade \u2014 with three children already receiving further care.<\/p>\n

Dr Warwick Teague, Director of Trauma Services and Burns Surgery clinical lead, says the jump is likely because children are spending more time at home due to COVID-19.<\/p>\n

He said the most common place to sustain a burns injury was at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about less care being given at home, it\u2019s about the exposure in the home environment when they\u2019re in the home,\u201d Dr Teague says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the RCH we see approximately 600 new burns injuries a year and the standout cause is a scold burn.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019ve also seen an increase in the number of other hot fluid burns during COVID-19 \u2014 particularly burns in relation to children cooking and hot noodle burns.<\/p>\n

Mat Radcliffe\u2019s daughter Milla, 7, was rushed to the RCH four weeks ago after spilling a bowl of 2-minute noodles on her lap.<\/p>\n

Mr Radcliffe, from South Morang, said he heard a \u201cblood curdling scream\u201d and immediately put Milla in the shower while his wife called an ambulance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to have her in cold water in the shower in 10 or 15 seconds of it happening but her skin just disappeared before our eyes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said Milla received burns to about 9 per cent of her body, including her lap and legs and spent a night at the RCH.<\/p>\n

She is still having her dressings changed weekly but is \u201cdoing great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Radcliffe credited his first-aid training with keeping him calm under pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be onto it \u2013 we\u2019re always out with lots of families with kids and you never know when these things are going to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dr Teague encouraged families to make sure children were supervised when in the kitchen or eating foods such as noodles or soup.<\/p>\n

He added knowing what to do if a child does receive a burn was crucial.<\/p>\n

WHAT TO DO:<\/strong><\/p>\n

REMOVE clothing (unless it is stuck to the burn)<\/p>\n

COOL burn with cold running water for 20 minutes<\/p>\n

COVER the burn (but do not use any gels, creams or ointments)<\/p>\n

SEEK medical help if the burn is affecting an important area, such as the face OR if the burn is bigger than a 50c coin OR if you are still concerned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coronavirus could be having an impact on the number of children treated for burns, with a spike in numbers prompting calls for increased awareness around young kids\u2019 exposure to hot liquids.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":189,"featured_media":8141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8971,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/189"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8140"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8156,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8140\/revisions\/8156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}