Burn injuries are some of the most painful injuries one can experience. Severe burns are often the result of workplace explosions and chemicals. But any type of burn has the potential to be severe and cause lasting pain and scarring.
While the burn itself is painful, the treatments, too, are often excruciating. Scrubbing, skin grafts, and painful physical therapy can last for months and years following a serious burn accident. Then, there is always a risk of infection, disease, and other health complications as a result as well as other burn injury complications.
According to the Medical News Today:
Almost three quarters of patients with extensive burns die of the consequences of a severe infection. In the current edition of DeutschesArzteblatt International, Timo A. Spanholtz of the Cologne-Merheim Burn Center and his coauthors discuss the acute therapy and follow-up care of burn disease.
Optimal treatment of severely burned patients necessitates collaboration between primary care physicians, emergency physicians and specialist departments for plastic surgery. During first aid from the emergency physician, the patient is removed from the danger zone and is administered adequate fluid, and drugs, over several intravenous accesses. Additional first aid measures include cooling and sterile covering of the burned skin.
The Central Office for Burn Injuries in Hamburg then organizes the necessary transfer to a specialist department. There are about 100 beds in Germany for severely burned patients, including 10 in the Cologne-Merheim Burn Center of Witten/Herdecke University. The lives of these patients are at risk from pneumonia, pulmonary failure, sepsis, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Bacterial infection of the wound is a frequent complication.
After intensive medical treatment, the patient may be given further wound care, physiotherapy, ergotherapy, and the necessary psychiatric treatment in a special follow-up ward. The primary care physician providing follow-up care must be able to recognize scar contractures leading to functional restriction and may refer the patient to the Burn Center once again for a new operation.
If you or a loved one has experienced a severe burn injury, you face a tough battle. Because the burn was likely not your fault, there’s a chance you could be entitled to compensation for your medical costs, as well as the pain and suffering.
About Kevin Krist, Houston Burn Injury Lawyer
Contact my office today if you have experienced an explosion or burn injury that was not your fault. Whether it occurred at work or in a place of business, I may be able to help. I can be reached for a risk-free consultation at 281-677-3962 today.
