SAFETY STRESSED DURING BURN AWARENESS WEEK

More than 2 million people are victims of burn injuries every year. Of those, 70,000 are hospitalized and many thousands die.

It is because of numbers like those that Burn Awareness Week -- this year Feb. 6-12 -- is observed.

"If two DC-10 jets collided head on and killed everyone aboard both planes, you would hear about it in the news," said Lt. Paul Breitenstein of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department. "If that happened once a month for a year, there would be a public outrage; people would demand something be done.

"But as many if not more people die every year of burns as would die in a dozen plane crashes, but you hear so little about it," he said. "If seven or eight people die in a fire, it's on the news. If one person dies, there might be a small story buried in a newspaper."

More than 35 percent of the burn-related injuries and deaths are suffered by children. Recent research lists burn-related deaths as a leading cause of accidental death in children under 14, with the highest risk group being children under 2.

There are simple precautions parents can take to decrease if not eliminate a child's risk of being burned at home, Breitenstein said.

"Everyone is pretty well catching on to what we've been saying about turning pot handles inward to keep children from knocking cooking pots off the stove," said Breitenstein. "But recent studies show that about 90 percent of microwave oven owners have been burned at least once by materials they heat up inside the oven."

Breitenstein said one of the greatest risks with microwave ovens is their tendency to create "hot spots" in food and liquids warmed inside.

"Take baby bottles, for instance," said Breitenstein. "You can test the bottle after microwaving it and it can feel fine, but there can be pockets of super-hot liquid in there that could seriously burn a baby.

"That's the reason most hospitals are recommending that parents don't warm bottles in the microwave," he said. "But the same holds true for any food warmed or cooked in microwave ovens."

Another trouble appliance in the home that can be controlled is the hot water heater.

"Since you can't tell the temperature on the gauge on the outside of most hot water heaters, I tell people that they should set the temperature so that the needle never goes past the halfway mark," Breitenstein said. "There's no reason for having water hotter than that in the house. You can't bathe in it or hand-wash dishes -- the water is too hot -- and dishwashers and laundry detergent have their own disinfecting and sterilizing methods."

Many burn injuries children sustain are to the mouth area because of a child trying to put something hot in his or her mouth or chewing on an electrical cord. The mouth is involved in approximately 66 percent of child-burn cases and most victims are between the ages of 6 and 36 months old.

In addition, parents should put plastic, safety devices over open outlets to prevent children from sticking a current-conducting material into the outlet.

If you or your child is burned, immediately cool the affected skin by running cool water over it.

"Don't use butter or mayonnaise or Cool Whip -- they don't do anything to help," said Breitenstein. "You can put ice on small burns, but icing a large burn could cause hypothermia."

Then a person should wrap the affected area with sterile gauze or material, and -- depending upon the severity of the burn -- visit a hospital as soon as possible.

First-degree burns such as sunburns can be serious, depending upon how much of the skin it covers. Second-degree burns produce blisters, which can also be serious if in a jointed area where skin is pulled and blisters are apt to break, which can lead to infection.

Third-degree burns -- no matter how much skin surface they cover -- are always serious. Third-degree burns will char and blacken the skin, sometimes burning to the bone. Immediate medical attention is highly recommended.

During Burn Awareness Week, local firefighters have been encouraged by Fire Chief Robert L. Ridgeway to visit schools in the vicinity of their fire stations and re-emphasize fire safety to the students.