Burn Injuries In A Virginia Personal Injury Case
A burn injury can be serious, especially the potential complications associated with burn injuries. A burn victim can face life-altering implications from a burn injury. Burns often result in expensive medical treatments and long-term medical and/or personal care to reach full or even partial recovery.
Understanding Burn Injuries
A burn can happen in several different ways. Common causes of burn injuries include:
• Heat and fire
• Chemicals
• Radiation
• Sunlight
• Electricity
• Hot liquids and steam
• Defective products
• Motor vehicle accidents and other personal injury accidents
In addition to the burn itself, a burn can lead to several other medical issues, such as infections, disfigurement,
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• First Degree Burn – This type of burn causes minimal damage and only impacts the top layer of skin. Full recovery is expected with no long-term treatment required. First degree burns are also referred to as superficial burns. You will notice redness, minor swelling, and pain with this type of burn. While the burn may be treated at home, it may also require a doctor’s care if it is on a sensitive area of the body or if a large portion of the body has been burned.
• Second Degree Burn – This burn damages the first and second layers of the skin and causes blisters. The area around the burn will be red and sore. In some cases, skin grafting may be necessary to repair the damage. Skin grafting involves removing healthy skin from another area of the body and grafting it to the injury site. A person with a second degree burn is at a higher risk for infection.
• Third Degree Burn – A third degree burn is the most severe type of burn. Three degree burns damage all layers of the skin and they can even cause damage to internal organs. Nerves may be damaged, which can reduce the feeling of pain and can lead to further issues. All third degree burns require medical
Carlton suffered an acute tissue injury on his foot after stepping on a sharp edge shell, which disrupted the layers of the skin. Immediately after an injury occurs, an inflammatory response begins, which serves to control and eliminate altered tissue/cells, microorganism, and antigens. This takes place in two phases. 1) The vascular phase, in which small vessels(arterioles, venules) at the site of injury undergo changes. Beginning, with
N.p., n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 05 Dec. 2013. http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/womenenc/burns.htm>.
Determining the seriousness and appropriate treatment of a burn requires its classification. Burns are classified according to three factors, the depth and number of affected tissue layers, the total percentage of the body surface that is involved, and the presence of homeostasis disruption or destruction such as respiratory distress, fluid loss, or loss of blood pressure control (Patton & Thibodeau, 2014). According to Mr. MacPherson’s appearance and symptoms, his burns are classified as second-degree or partial-thickness burns. The evidence for this diagnosis according to Patton and Thibodeau (2014), are his presenting symptoms of severe pain and the appearance of blisters, edema, and fluid loss. This type of bur...
Thousands upon thousands of acres are lost in forest fires every year. We always hear about the dramatic losses caused by forest fires and are often concerned by them. There are so many horrible effects from fires and most of them affect so many people. Studies have shown that out of all of the different methods to decrease fire damage, prescribed burns are the most affective. Many people would argue that they are not as affective because they cause so many health problems. Although that is a very important view and may seem valid, those health issues are not as extreme as one might think. People should look at the majority of the benefits form prescribed burns and they will see how affective and important they are. Prevention is the key to society these days and is definitely an important factor in saving lives. If more lives can be saved as well as land and wildlife, prescribed burns may be the better way to go about forest fires. Although, prescribed burns are better for the environment in order to prevent drastic forest fires, severe damage to timber and extreme death of wildlife; some people feel it affects the health of a firefighter too much and it causes too many long term effects.
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Smoke exposure at prescribed burns: a study on the effects of smoke exposure on firefighters at prescribed burns. Portland: Forest Service, 1995.
The first accident occurred on a 61-year old woman who was at a follow-up appointment after a breast tumor was removed. She felt a burning sensation and told the operator “you burned me”. She developed swelling and reddening, but the AECL declared this a normal treatment reaction and not a machine malfunction. Her condition wor...
A burn is categorized based on the layers of skin that it impacts. The superficial integumentary layer is known as the epidermis and the inner, thicker layer is the dermis. First degree burns impact only the epidermis while second degree burns extend to the dermis. A third degree, or full thickness burn, destroys both layers of skin. The damage of fourth degree burns reaches all the way to the underlying muscle and bone. For the purposes of this paper, third degree burns are the focus. Some of the most likely causes of these full thickness burns are scalding liquids, extended contact with hot objects, flames, as well as electrical and chemical sources. They are dry, leathery, and may be deep red, white, yellow, black, or brown in appearance. Initially, the patient will feel little pain as nerve fibers may be damaged (Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters [CHKD], 2007).
Burns are caused by many different factors. Heat burns are caused by fire, steam, hot objects, electricity, ultraviolet rays and hot liquids (Living With Burn Trauma). According to “Prevention,” an online article, the “Leading causes of fire and burn death and injury for older adults are smoking, cooking, scalds, electrical, and heating.” When one is burned, a instinct called “fight or flight” catalyzes. “Fight or Flight” causes one’s breathing and pulse to increase. When this happens, their adrenal glands release a hormone that causes pain to diminish causing some to vaguely remember their accident (Living With Burn Trauma). Many times because a victim begins to breathe rapidly, they can experience respiratory complications from the burns often resulting in respiratory failure (“First Aid and Emergencies”).
Investigating an arson is very difficult because fires tend to destroy evidence and firefighters while fighting the blaze will move things around and destroy even more evidence. Once an investigation is open for an arson, investigators need to find the source of heat and the material ignited in order to determine if it was a set fire. The two most important question investigators will ask is where and how did the fire start? When a fire has multiple starting points that should raise the level of suspicion and dictate if the fire was purposely set. Other preliminary steps to take is for investigators to find ignition devices. These devices can be gasoline, chemicals, matches, or other types of accelerants. Accelerants also known as boosters speeds of the process of a fire by adding to the initial fire for the fire to burn rapidly and increase the intensity. Firefighter and law enforcement can look for melted metals or similar materials. This can mean that accelerants were used because metals usually burn at about 3,000*F. The most important thing for law enforcement and fire fighters when suspecting an arson is to not move and contaminate any physical evidence. The first thing they should secure is any harm or injuries and clear
Smoke inhalation injury, a unique form of acute lung injury, greatly increases the occurrence of post-burn morbidity and mortality. In addition to early intubation for upper-airway protection, subsequent critical care of patients who have this injury should be directed at maintaining distal airway patency. High-frequency ventilation, inhaled heparin, and aggressive pulmonary toilet are among the therapies available (Cancio , 2009).
Sunburn is the result when a person stays in the sun for so long and their skin would then turn red and painful, especially when it's touched. It usually appears within a few hours right after the person spends their time being exposed in the sun. Unfortunately, sunburn may take a couple of days to heal and fade, and it would get worse if the person stays under the sun and it would then lead to skin damage and other skin diseases like dry or wrinkled skin, rough and dark spots, and of course, skin cancer.
For second degree burns, it goes a little deeper than the epidermis. With this being said, when the burn damages the cells on the next layer known as the dermis, they are a little more severe than the first degree burn. It causes blistering and a more eye noticing redness to the burn the the first degree does. It also causes more pain. Second degree runs heal rather quickly within about two to three weeks without scarring but with skin pigment changes in some cases. This degree can cause the body to reject nutrients and make the senses more sensitive to temperature and touch. On the other hand, third degrees burns are a different story. This is the most severe and damaging type of burn. Many would believe you if you were to say that this degree causes the most pain since its extending through all layers of your skin, but that's not the case. Since third degree burns go through all three layers of your skin, it is very likely that the burn will cause your nerves to be damaged causing you to not feel any pain at all. This is the reason why it is the most severe, because once your nerves are damaged, they will not recover. These types of burns cause the skin to change colors such as a
When a wound is determined as non-healable, as described by Sibbald et al (1), it should not be treated with a moist treatment and should be kept dry in order to reduce the risk of infection that would compromise the limb. It is also important to consider the patient 's preferences and try to control his pain, his discomfort in activities of daily living and the odour that their wound may produce. In this case, special attention must be given to infection prevention and control. Some charcoal dressing would be interesting in the care of our non-healable wounds at St. Mary 's Hospital.
- Burns - People with extensive burns may experience less anxiety, itching, and pain in association with their injuries.