12-month-old baby burned, first aid wrongly made the illness worse

The Burn Unit - Orthopedics Department, National Children's Hospital received and treated a 12-month-old girl (from Bac Ninh ) who was burned by soup. The family said that the child fell into a bowl of hot soup while the family was preparing dinner, resulting in burns to the head, shoulder and right arm. Immediately after that, the family panicked and took the child to a local herbalist for treatment, where the child was given snake fat to apply on the burn, resulting in the child's burn becoming more severe.

On the second day after the burn, the child had a fever and was taken by his family to the National Children's Hospital for examination and treatment. At the Burn Unit - Orthopedics Department, through clinical and paraclinical examination, the child was diagnosed with second and third degree burns (10%) on the head, shoulder and right arm. The child was scheduled for daily check-ups and wound care with dressing changes. At the same time, doctors and nurses also advised on a nutritional regimen to help the child improve his physical condition and recover quickly. The child's health is currently stable and he has been discharged from the hospital.

Master, Doctor, Doctor Phung Cong Sang - Head of the Burn Unit, Deputy Head of the Orthopedic Department, National Children's Hospital said: Broth burns are similar to boiling water burns, which are thermal burns that occur when exposed to hot soup. However, the risk of infection in the burn area is higher than that of boiling water burns. In particularly serious cases, these burns can be life-threatening to children. The level of danger of a soup burn wound depends on factors such as: temperature; duration of skin contact; area of the soup burn wound and location of the burn... Therefore, if not treated quickly and properly from the beginning of the burn, the damaged skin area is at risk of further burns and infection.

“In the case of the above child, applying python fat to the burn will make the child feel more comfortable for the superficial burn area. As for the deep burn area, applying python fat is not effective for early treatment but also has the risk of causing infection, increasing the depth of the burn, making the child's condition worse" - Master, Doctor, II Phung Cong Sang said.

Doctor guides first aid for burns at home

First aid for soup burns is similar to that for other types of thermal burns. The goals of initial first aid are to relieve pain, maintain hygiene, and prevent infection.

Therefore, when a child is burned by soup, parents first need to isolate the child from the cause of the burn, and soak the burned part (hand, foot) of the child in clean, cool water (from 16 to 20 degrees Celsius, best within the first 30 minutes after the burn).

If the child has a burn on the face, cover it with a soft wet towel. If the burn is large, pay attention to keeping the unburned areas warm (absolutely do not use ice to avoid frostbite).

Do not rub oil, toothpaste, eggs, snake fat, fish oil, or leaves on the burned skin because it can easily cause infection. After first aid for a burned child, take the child to the nearest medical facility for timely examination and treatment.

Source: https://laodong.vn/suc-khoe/be-12-thang-tuoi-bi-bong-so-cuu-sai-cach-khien-benh-nang-hon-1380781.ldo