Emergency Burn Care & Referral Poster

Introduction: The need for a standardization of burn emergency treatment and referral criteria, as well as education of medical personnel was identified by the nursing staff at the Johns Hopkins Burn Center.  It has been documented that burn injuries treated with adequate emergency care are associated with more favorable outcomes, limiting tissue damage and subsequent morbidity including the need for surgery. Purpose: To provide an emergency burn care and referral poster along with peer education to local emergency departments throughout the region to standardize care for burn treatment, burn center referral, and acute management and stabilization.  Goals for this project include: increase the number of appropriate burn patient referrals from outside hospital emergency departments, and to increase knowledge of acute burn management among healthcare workers within the region that we serve. Method: The multidisciplinary Burn Center staff developed a poster on burn care and treatment with referral criteria to a Burn Center which was to be disseminated with in servicing by Burn Center staff to regional hospital emergency department medical personnel.  The preliminary goal for education roll out was set for least 500 healthcare workers over the next 1-2 years.  Results: Posters distributed in 23 hospitals in 13 counties since June 2007. Thus far 261 medical personnel in serviced.  Preliminary data found that Upper Chesapeake Medical Center had no patient referrals prior to September 2007 in service, and 14 patient referrals since that time.  Anne Arundel Medical Center had 2 patient referrals prior to our intervention and 6 patient referrals since that time.  Discussion/Conclusions: Further program implementation and data collection is needed in order to better evaluate program objectives.  Possibilities for future research include retrospective patient chart audits to assess appropriate initial patient management.