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Tips for Burn Awareness Week

Thursday, February 9, 2012 by:Amanda Cuda
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The first full week of February is Burn Awareness Week, and Dr. John Schulz, medical director of The Connecticut Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital, has a few tips for staying safe. According Schulz, nearly 70 percent of all burns occur in the home. According to the American Burn Association, burns account for 450,000 injuries and 3,500 deaths annually in the United States. More than three-quarters of all burns are caused by exposure to flames or hot liquids.

Here are Schulz’s tips for staying safe at any time of year:

  • Don’t let loose sleeves or clothing dangle over a stove or other open flame.
  • Keep pan handles turned in so children can’t grab them and spill boiling liquid.
  • Don’t place hot drinks within reach of a toddler.
  • Keep electrical cords from coffee makers out of the reach of children.
  • Don’t overload electrical outlets or power strips, as they can be an electrocution hazard.
  • Never let your children play with matches—or even get near them.
  • Never hold containers of hot liquids near a child.
  • Don’t leave candles burning in an empty room.
  • Never squirt lighter fluid on a flaming grill or any other flame.
  • Don’t leave children alone in the bathtub, where they can be exposed to scalding water.
  • Don’t smoke in bed; in fact, don’t smoke at all—not only is it a burn hazard, smoking contributes to heart disease, stroke, cancer and other illnesses.
  • Install smoke detectors, test them, and change the batteries at least twice a year.

October is Fire Safety Month!

Thursday, October 13, 2011 by:Amanda Cuda
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October is National Fire Safety Month and the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) is encouraging Connecticut’s employers and workers to keep their workplaces safe from accidental fires.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, more than half of all non-residential structure fires from 2005-2009 occurred in workplaces. Almost 20 percent of those workplace fires occurred in office settings.

DPH recommends that all of Connecticut’s employers and workers review the “Workplace Fire Safety Top 10” checklist, which can be found on the DPH website at www.ct.gov/dph/occupationalhealth.

Below is a sampling of some of DPH’s fire prevention tips:

  • Make sure exit doors are not obstructed, propped, or locked to ensure that occupants can escape in an emergency. Employees should also be aware of exit routes and ensure they lead directly to an open space (i.e. street, walkway, refuge area, or public way).
  • Make sure flammable chemicals or other flammable materials are properly labeled and stored. Do not hang flammable materials on walls or from ceilings.
  • Know where fire alarms and fire extinguishers are located, make sure no materials are stored in such a way as to block fire extinguishers or sprinkler heads in any direction.
  • Be aware of those that may need assistance exiting the building in an emergency.

For more information about workplace fire safety or fire prevention in general, visit the National Fire Prevention Association at www.nfpa.org or contact DPH at 860-509-7742.

Fund raiser to support Bridgeport burn center takes place Saturday

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 by:Amanda Cuda
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The Stratford Fire Department will conduct a “Pass the Bucket” fundraiser for the Connecticut Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital during the Saturday, Oct. 1, pre-season hockey game, starting at 7 p.m., at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport between the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders. The evening will mark the kickoff of the hospital’s $1.5 million fundraising campaign to support renovations to the only nationally accredited burn center in Connecticut. The occasion will also include the premiere public showing of the campaign video, which includes comments by patients, their family members, firefighters, public officials and Burn Center staff members.

The acute-care wing of the Burn Center was modernized in 1999 as part of a larger project involving all of the hospital’s critical care units. The focus of the new project, which got underway this month, is the Center’s sub-acute wing and visitor facilities.

The $1.5 million project includes:

  • Redesigning patient rooms in the sub-acute wing for greater patient and family privacy
  • Renovation of the Center’s family lounge
  • New overnight accommodations for families
  • Improvements to the Center’s entrance and nurses’ station
  • Installation of a dedicated elevator to transport burn patients back and forth to the hospital operating room, which will help safeguard patients against infection

Founded in 1973 by the hospital’s then-Chairman of Surgery Dr. Andrew J. Panettieri, the Burn Center now serves more than 250 inpatients and receives more than 800 outpatient visits each year. Patients are referred to the Center from throughout Connecticut, and many arrive by air ambulance. Because it is a resource for the entire state, the Center has been renamed the Connecticut Burn Center.

For more information, please contact Steve Jakab, President of the Bridgeport Hospital Foundation, at 203-384-3522.

Kaboom! How to avoid fireworks injuries this weekend

Thursday, June 30, 2011 by:Amanda Cuda
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July Fourth is just days and away, and you know what that means:

That’s right — the weekend will be full of ample opportunity to enjoy fireworks displays. But if you’re planning to enjoy the festivities, medical experts urge caution. According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commision, about 8,600 fireworks-related injuries happened in 2010. Of those, about 30 percent were injuries to the hands and fingers and about 21 percent were injuries to the eyes.

Dr. Seth Althoff, attending physician for the Bridgeport Hospital emergency room, said the hospital sees a handful of patients come in with fireworks-linked injuries every July Fourth weekend. ”There’s always a couple of incidents,” he said. “I think, in general, people do a pretty good job of being cautious, but there’s always going to be accidents.”

And most incidents, Althoff said, can be avoided with some good common sense. First, non-professionals should never set off fireworks themselves. Not only is it dangerous, it’s illegal. In Connecticut, nearly all fireworks are illegal, with the exception of sparklers, which contain less than 100 grams of pyrotechnic mixture. Even sparklers can only be used by those aged 16 and older. For information on the state laws, check out this release on the Connecticut State Police web site.

Aside from obeying the law, here are some more tips for preventing fireworks injuries, from American Medical Response, Inc.

  • Always keep a safe distance from fireworks staging areas.
  • If you are a fireworks operator, protect your eyes by wearing safety glasses or gaggles. Wearing prescription eyeglasses, sunglasses or contact lenses provides little or no protection against fireworks-induced eye injuries
  • If you do plan to use the legal-in-Connecticut sparklers, collect all burned-out sparkler wires for proper disposal. Sparklers stay hot long after burning out.
  • Keep younger children away from all fireworks. Older children must be supervised.
  • Never extend any part of the body over lit fireworks (Editor’s note: Really? Do people actually need to be told that?)
  • Never point or throw fireworks at a person (Again — do people truly not know that? I weep for the state of the world)
  • Keep water and a first aid kit nearby for emergencies
  • If you do incur an eye injury, do not touch, rub or press the injured eye. Take the victim to a local emergency room or call 9-1-1 for help.
  • In case of burn injuries, cover the affected area with a dry dressing and, if necessary, call 9-1-1 or take the victim to the emergency room.

And remember — we all work too hard for our holiday weekends to spend any portion of them in the hospital, so be safe!

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