Second degree burn; First degree burn; Third degree burn

To help prevent burns:

• Install smoke alarms in your home. Check and change batteries regularly.
• Teach children about fire safety and the hazards of matches and fireworks.
• Keep children from climbing on top of a stove or grabbing hot items like irons and oven doors.
• Turn pot handles toward the back of the stove so that children can't grab them and they can't be accidentally knocked over.
• Place fire extinguishers in key locations at home, work, and school.
• Remove electrical cords from floors and keep them out of reach.
• Know about and practice fire escape routes at home, work, and school.
• Set temperature of water heater at 120 degrees or less.

Singer AJ, Taira BR, Lee CC, Soroff HS. Thermal burns. In: Marx JA, ed. Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier; 2009:chap 60.

Gallagher JJ, Wolf SE, Herndon DN. Burns. In: Townsend CM Jr, Beauchamp RD, Evers BM, Mattox KL, eds. Sabiston Textbook of Surgery. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 22.

Bethel CA, Mazzeo AS. Burn care procedures. In: Roberts JR, Hedges JR, eds. Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2009:chap 38.

Holmes JH, Heimbach DM. Burns. In: Brunicardi FC, Andersen DK, Billiar TR, et al, eds. Schwartz’s Principles of Surgery. 9th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2010:chap 7.

Images

Burns

Skin

Second degree burn

First degree burn

Third degree burn

Burn, blister - close-up

Burn, thermal - close-up

Airway burn

Previous Section

Burns Treatment

Review Date: 01/13/2010
Reviewed By: Jacob L. Heller, MD, MHA, Emergency Medicine, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)