Handling a burn

Richard Pass, RN Registered Nurse, shares advice for parents on how to treat your child's burn and how to tell if it is serious enough to be checked by a doctor
Pediatric First Aid - Handling A Burn On A Child
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Handling a burn

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Burns, in particular what we call thermal burns, are unfortunately too common in the pediatric population. There is a misunderstanding in many cases that these burns may come from flame but in many cases they come from hot liquids, tea, coffee, soup, something along those lines. Burns in the pediatric population are of great concern. The seriousness of most burns has to do with two factors. One is how large the burn is and the other how deep it is. But remember these are smaller bodies and it doesn´t take as much hot temperature to cause a serious or even potentially fatal burn. So it is the toddler in particular that we want to be extremely careful of. The immediate treatment of a burn of this nature is to immerse the area in cold water. Don´t use ice. Simply use cold water and continue running it until you can make the decision, which will be made soon, whether you can transport this baby or child to the emergency room yourself or whether 911 needs to be called. I would say for sure that if you are feeling overwhelmed by the event, calling 911 is a smart thing to do.

Richard Pass, RN Registered Nurse, shares advice for parents on how to treat your child's burn and how to tell if it is serious enough to be checked by a doctor

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Richard Pass, RN

Registered Nurse & CPR Expert

Richard Pass, RN, BS, was born in Los Angeles. He studied nursing in Portland, Oregon and has since practiced nursing for 35 years, including ICU, Emergency, and Cardiology nursing. Richard started his CPR & Family Safety educational company, Save a Little Life, Inc., in 1999. With Save a Little Life, Inc., Richard presents house calls and classes all over the Los Angeles area. He teaches medical-surgical nursing at California State University, and is married with two grown children and one grandchild.

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Transcription: 
Burns, in particular what we call thermal burns, are unfortunately too common in the pediatric population. There is a misunderstanding in many cases that these burns may come from flame but in many cases they come from hot liquids, tea, coffee, soup, something along those lines. Burns in the pediatric population are of great concern. The seriousness of most burns has to do with two factors. One is how large the burn is and the other how deep it is. But remember these are smaller bodies and it doesn´t take as much hot temperature to cause a serious or even potentially fatal burn. So it is the toddler in particular that we want to be extremely careful of. The immediate treatment of a burn of this nature is to immerse the area in cold water. Don´t use ice. Simply use cold water and continue running it until you can make the decision, which will be made soon, whether you can transport this baby or child to the emergency room yourself or whether 911 needs to be called. I would say for sure that if you are feeling overwhelmed by the event, calling 911 is a smart thing to do.