Summer, vacations, barbecues… and sometimes burns. An accident can happen quickly and in these cases, we do not always know how to react to an injury that appears minor, but that should not be taken lightly. On Europe 1, Monday, the program Sans rendez-vous takes stock of what you need to know, but also what to do or not to do in the event of a burn.
Where is the burn located?
And it's not just the fire that burns. There is also hot milk, tea, coffee, a pot of boiling water ... Hot liquids are also responsible for half of domestic accidents. In its white paper, two years ago, the Société francophone de Brûlologie also urged you to be wary of electric barbecues, which have a container filled with water to collect cooking fat.
First thing to do, in all cases: do not underestimate the severity of a burn. Three things are important: the area of skin that is burned, the area affected, and the depth of the burn. Among the most dangerous areas, the face of course, but also the feet and hands, due to the risk of tissue retraction during healing, or even adhesion between the skin and the tendons which can cause a functional handicap. Because the fingers swell in the event of a burn, you must immediately think about removing the rings that you wear.
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Is the burn deep and extensive?
The depth of an injury is calculated in degrees. This is why we speak of a first, second or third degree burn. The first degree concerns the surface of the skin. This is for example the type of burn that we find in the case of a sunburn. In the second degree, the skin lifts up and we see vesicles, commonly called blisters, appear.
Pain is an important indicator. If the burn hurts, that's a good sign. This means that it is a superficial second degree burn, which usually can heal in a couple of weeks. On the other hand, if it doesn't hurt, it indicates that the deep layer of the skin, the dermis and the pain receptors, is destroyed. This is therefore a deep second degree. Here, the healing will take longer.
When the skin is burned to the third degree, the burn is even deeper and the fatty layer is affected. The skin can then take on a white or brown color, with the appearance of leather. In this case, a transplant is necessary. As soon as a second degree burn exceeds 10% of the body surface, it is no longer a question of a minor burn. For an adult, it is the equivalent of the surface of the palm of the hand.
How to react in the event of a burn?
The first quarter of an hour is crucial, because it can help limit the damage by reducing the severity of the burn. Indeed, in the first minutes, even if the person has moved away from the source of the burn, the thermal effect continues. To prevent this, you should place the burned parts under cold water (about 10 or 15 ° C) for ten minutes, which will allow the skin to cool down deeply.
If part of the clothing is stuck to the skin, it is important not to try to peel it off, but rather to cut around it. Finally, it is necessary to remember to cover the injured person with a blanket if the burned area is extensive, in order to avoid any risk of hypothermia.
Each year in France, at least 400,000 people burn themselves. A figure that only identifies people who go to a doctor, but in reality the victims are many more numerous. A total of 8,000 people are hospitalized because of their burns and around 200 die. This is particularly the case during fires, although it has been mandatory, since 2015, to have an autonomous smoke detector (DAAF) installed at home.