Burn Week prompts tips from Burn Center

BRIDGEPORT, CT (Feb. 4, 2022) – Alisa Savetamal, MD, medical director of the Connecticut Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital, offers some safety tips in advance of Burn Awareness Week, Feb. 6 - 12.

About a third of patients admitted to the Burn Center have been injured in a cooking-related incident, Dr. Savetamal said. Hot oil is particularly dangerous and accounts for over 60 percent of the cooking-related burn admissions, and many of these patients require surgery. The remainder of cooking-related injuries occur due to scalding from hot liquid, such as soup, tea or coffee. These may not require admission or surgery but they are painful and require wound care. Here are a few of Dr. Savetamal’s safety tips:

• Do not leave children unattended near hot liquids.
• Turn pot handles away from the front of the stove, so they can’t be accidentally knocked over.
• Be particularly careful when cooking with hot oil. Don’t let it out of your sight! If it starts to burn, take it off heat and cover it with a tight-fitting lid. Many injuries occur when people try of run out of the house with a flaming pan of hot oil.
• Do not put an accelerant on your grill or bonfire. It’s a bad idea.

The Connecticut Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital is the state’s only Burn Center. It reaches the highest standards in accordance with the American Burn Association and the American College of Surgeons. A team of experts works to provide the highest-quality care ranging from topical treatments to skin grafting. The burn team includes:

• Surgeons
• Specially trained burn nurses
• Respiratory therapists
• Social workers
• Dietitians
• Physical and occupational therapists

The care team oversees treatment and rehabilitation for the patient’s entire stay, which can last up to several months depending on the severity of the patient’s injuries. Follow-up visits and additional therapies such as Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) are also available once patients leave the Burn Center.

As the only Burn Center in Connecticut, many of patients come from across the state and beyond. To make the recovery process a little bit easier for the families of patients, they can stay at the Connecticut Burn Center Family Suite. This suite, which is located inside the Burn Center, ensures families have a place to stay during a difficult time. We thank the Connecticut firefighters who helped make the family suite possible.

Bridgeport Hospital, part of Yale New Haven Health, is a non-profit 501-bed acute care hospital with two campuses (plus 42 beds licensed to Yale New Haven Children's Hospital). Its Bridgeport and Milford Campuses serve patients from across the region. The hospital admits more than 23,000 patients and provides nearly 350,000 outpatient treatments annually. The Connecticut Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital is the only burn center in the state and one of only 64 verified burn centers in the United States. Bridgeport Hospital is committed to providing safe, compassionate and cost efficient care to its patients and the community. www.bridgeporthospital.org