ABSTRACT
ABOUT BURNS Each year in the United States, 1.1 million burn injuries require medical attention; approximately 50,000 of these require hospitalization, with 20,000 patients having major burns involving at least 25% of their total body surface. In addition, someone dies in a fire every 2 hours, and someone is injured due to a burn every 23 minutes (Karter, 2001); up to 10,000 people in the United States die every year of burn-related infections (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2004a). Burn injuries rank fifth among major causes of death among persons 15 to 55 years old (CDC, 1999).
