ABSTRACT
INCIDENCE/EPIDEMIOLOGY In the United States, 136,453 children were injured from a fire or burn and treated in emergency rooms in 2012. This number includes more than 67,000 children 4 years of age and younger.1,2
In 2011, 325 children 19 years of age or younger died from fires or burns, 277 (85%) of which occurred in residential fires; 47% of children who died from fires or burns were 4 years of age or younger. The death rate for children this age (0.77 per 100,000) is almost
■ Children have thin skin; therefore their injuries tend to be deep, complicated by contracture and hypertrophic scarring.
