ABSTRACT
In Britain, 250000 people per year are injured as a result of thermal, electrical and chemical burns. The majority of burns are thermal, the biggest subgroup being scalding, particularly of children. Thirteen thousand people per year are hospitalised and approximately 1000 require fluid resuscitation; about half of this latter group are children under 16 (National Burn Care Review Committee Report, 2001). Treatment may be provided in a regional burns centre containing a burns unit linked to a department of plastic surgery, or in a local non-specialist hospital where plastic surgeons collaborate with the intensive care team.
