It only takes a second for a baby to pull a cup of hot coffee right out of your hands, making the potential for a painful, damaging burn significant. Scald and burn prevention in your home may not be something you think about often, but awareness of the danger of burns and a few simple tips for prevention can help keep your child safe, according to the experts at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s.
“Roughly every minute, someone in the United States receives a burn that’s serious enough to require medical treatment — sometimes they can even be fatal,” says a group of experts at UChicago Medicine that includes Poj Lysouvakon, MD, Director of the Pediatric Injury Prevention program, Princy P. George, MD, Pediatric Emergency medicine Physician and Sebastian Vrouwe, MD, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Physician.
The conversations you have with your child about avoiding a burn injury — even if you think they are too young to fully understand — are likely to stay with them for the rest of their life. Start by explaining to your child how serious and painful burns can be and then share information about to prevent them.
This can be as simple as always having adult supervision when children handle something hot enough to burn them.
“Children are at an especially high risk for these types of injuries because of their dependence on adults for supervision and safety and because they’re still developing their motor and cognitive skills,” says the team at UChicago Medicine.
Determine the severity of the burn
Burn injuries occur frequently in the household, and there are various types of burns and different levels of severity. From a prevention standpoint, parents should be aware of various types of burns and how to handle each one.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), a first-degree burn is where “the skin turns red, but it does not blister and can be somewhat painful such as a sunburn.”
A second-degree burn is where “the outer layer of the skin is burned and some part of the dermis is damaged,” causing it to be painful and will most likely blister.
A third-degree burn is where “the skin will be charred or white and the epidermis and dermis (top two layers of the skin) are irreversibly damaged.”
A scald is a type of burn that occurs when skin comes into contact with hot liquid. According to the American Burn Association, just three seconds of exposure to 140-degree water, which is much lower than boiling point, can cause a burn serious enough to require surgery.
The experts at Comer Children’s say that in children younger than 5, as many as 95% of scald injuries happen in the home. They suggest that this can happen from a coffee maker, tableware or cookware filled with hot liquids and even from hot water in the bathtub.
Ways to keep children safe from burns
Talk to your children about never playing with lighters or matches and “keep a three-foot safety zone around stoves, microwave ovens, gas fireplace, space heaters and other potential causes of burns,” says the expert team at Comer Children’s.
As parents, you need to anticipate your children burning themselves on appliances you use, so follow these tips from Dr. Lysouvakon, Dr. George and Dr. Vrouwe:
- When you cook, be sure to use the back burners and keep all pot and pan handles turned inward — away from the reach of little ones.
- Make it a habit to immediately unplug appliances that get hot, such as curling irons, steamers, kettles and clothes irons.
- Keep all small appliances out of your child’s reach.
Consider the fact that a curling iron can reach 450 degrees very quickly, but take a long time to cool down. “Contact for even brief periods can cause a significant thermal injury,” they say.
How to care for burns
For minor burns, follow these tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics:
- First, cool the area by running cool water over it for about five minutes.
- Then, cover the burned area with a clean bandage and keep the burn clean with gentle washing with soap or water.
- If the burn seems more severe, take your child to the hospital immediately.
Prevention is key. Experts stress that parents should seek information about how to best prevent scalds and burns and follow expert advice to keep children safe.
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