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Chapter 19 - Burn Care in a Field Hospital Environment

from Section 4 - Clinical Considerations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2020

By
Alan Kay
Edited by
Elhanan Bar-On ,
Kobi Peleg  and
Yitshak Kreiss
Elhanan Bar-On
Affiliation:
The Israel Center for Disaster Medicine and Humanitarian Response, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel
Kobi Peleg
Affiliation:
National Center for Trauma & Emergency Medicine Research, The Gertner Institute for Health Policy and Epidemiology and Tel-Aviv University, Disaster Medicine Department
Yitshak Kreiss
Affiliation:
Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel
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Summary

Field hospitals are usually deployed to locations where, in response to adverse circumstances, normal health care is challenged. It is known that the prevalence of burn wounds in such situations is raised and it is highly likely that a field hospital will need to provide burn care. Many of the features of modern high-quality burn care are not deliverable in a field hospital and it is unlikely the best outcomes can be achieved. Burn care draws heavily on resources. Burns over about 30% total body surface area may cause significant physiological derangement requiring sophisticated critical care. If definitive surgical care of the wound is to be undertaken it is probably better to delay wound excision for about two weeks to allow superficial burns to heal spontaneously. Surgery should ideally be performed in repeated short sessions rather than a single large procedure.

Keywords

Field hospitalburn care
Type
Chapter
Information
Field Hospitals
A Comprehensive Guide to Preparation and Operation
 , pp. 196 - 204
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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