Patient handout

Burn management (acute resuscitation + transfer triage)

PRODUCTION

1. Your condition

This handout is for burn management (acute resuscitation + transfer triage). Your care team identified this based on: thermal / chemical / electrical burn injury (aba 2023; atls 2018).

Other reasons your team may use this plan: enclosed-space fire / smoke inhalation (atls 2018; jeschke lancet 2020); facial burn, singed nasal hair, hoarseness, stridor (atls 2018); estimated tbsa ≥10% (peds ≥5%) or full-thickness ≥3% (aba 2023).

4. When to seek emergency care

Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room right away if you have:

Facial burn, singed nasal hair, hoarseness, stridor, soot in oropharynx, enclosed-space fire (ATLS 2018)(life-threatening)
Partial-thickness >10% TBSA OR full-thickness >5% OR face/hands/feet/genitalia/joints OR electrical OR chemical OR inhalation OR comorbid trauma OR pediatric burn (ABA 2023)
Circumferential burn (extremity, chest, neck) with signs of vascular/respiratory compromise (ABA 2023)(life-threatening)
Resuscitation requirement exceeds 6 mL/kg/%TBSA (Ivy Index — ISBI 2018)
Fire victim + lactate >10 OR cardiac arrest OR severe unexplained acidosis (Baud 2002)(life-threatening)
Pediatric burn (<5 years): TBSA ≥10% OR any partial-thickness >5% OR full-thickness >2% (ABA 2023)
Electrical burn (especially high-voltage) with ECG abnormality, arrhythmia, or CK >5000 (ABA 2023)

5. Follow-up

Burn-centre follow-up if transferred; physiotherapy; scar management; psychosocial / SW; return precautions for infection (ABA 2023; NICE 2024 burns)

6. Sources

Guideline: ABA Clinical Practice Guidelines on Burn Shock Resuscitation 2024 + evidence-based inhalation-injury management review + hydroxocobalamin smoke-inhalation cyanide evidence + initial major-burn evaluation/transfer review