The hospitals says the majority of the burn patients referred to it, are identified as having major burns, needing specialised care. The Health Department in the SA’s Western Cape Province, is observing the country’s National Burn Safety Awareness Week, which also seeks to shine a light on the importance of keeping children safe as winter approaches.

The hospital highlights that about 80 to 90 % of burn cases in children, are from boiling liquid, adding that, only a small proportion are fire injuries, with these incidents happening mostly at home. Head Surgeon of the Hospital’s Burn Unit, Dr Tome Mendes says the unit mostly receives children from impoverished areas

“Injuries or burn injuries in children are some of the most significant causes of major mortality and mobility in SA children and it is one of the leading causes of death in children in SA. Unfortunately, we find that our injuries tend to affect our most vulnerable population groups. Firstly, children from impoverished communities live under dire circumstances. It is really our most vulnerable population groups affected by burns, especially as we go into our busy winter season,” Mendes said.

Mendes says the patients are often hospitalised for a minimum of five days, with some staying for up to a year due to the extent of their injuries.

“Each of the burns that we admit will tend to be in the ward, staying at least a minimum of five days. But we've had patients stay up to a year because they've needed such extensive care because they’ve had such extensive injuries, and if you look at the impact such a stay would have on the child in terms of their well-being, the pain they go through and the scarring that they have to handle later on and that they have to recover from. It is a lifelong injury. For many of our major burns, it’s not something that they experience and then they just recover from and are back to completely themselves,” Mendes said.

--SABC--