Expert says precautions can save people from burn injuries

PESHAWAR: A prominent burn treatment specialist and chief of the Burn Hospital in Peshawar, Professor Dr Mohammad Tahir, has advised the people to adopt precautionary measures in routine life and avoid expected dangers and save precious lives of the family members.

During his hour-long session at the Peshawar Press Club on Thursday, he gave the details of the burn patients admitted at the hospital.

He said the keeping in view the expensive treatment, the head of the institutions and industrialists should concentrate on provision of required materials in respective work places to save lives of the workers to avoid such tragedies. The doctor underlined importance of educating the general public through awareness movements.

Elaborating and comparing the treatment of the burn patients in known hospitals, the plastic surgeon said a patient needs Rs500,000 for treatment at the Army Burn Centre Kharian, Rs200,000 in PIMS Burns Centre and Jinnah Burn Centre Lahore and 2,000 USD/day in US. “Burns are the most grievous injuries one can imagine,” he said.

Dr Mohammad Tahir said that life never remains the same due to physical scar, psychological and socioeconomic troubles and cited the example of Lia Jiang, a 31-year-old woman from Taiwan, who suffered burns in 2015. After undergoing 21 surgeries over three years, Jiang recently decided to take part in a photo shoot showing her scars.

Explaining types of industrial burns, including chemical burn, electric burn, flame burn and radiation burn, he underlined the importance of environmental precautions, emergency evacuation plan, plan emergency evacuation before planning the buildings.

He suggested to the industrialists to avoid overcrowding at workplace and non-slip flooring at workplace, make/enforce burns safety rules and educate the workers.

The plastic surgeon underlined the importance of the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) particularly for women, girls working in the kitchen.

The women working in the kitchen, he said, should avoid loose clothes, which could easily catch fire.

In most of the cases, he said, the women working in the kitchen become victims due to minor mistakes due to their clothes, dupatta, etc.

Similarly, the burn treatment specialist said the person working in a building should plan, practice the escape, aware of the location of fire-extinguishing equipment, first aid kits and eyewash stations and use of equipment including first aid.

He said in case of fire, one must raise an alarm, call the fire brigade, once out remain out, and don’t re-enter the house and don’t wait to collect his possessions. In many cases, he pointed out, some lost lives when they entered the house to collect belongings amid fire.

The persons if trapped in a smoke-filled room, he said, should cover his nose and mouth with a wet cloth and crawl to a safe area. And in case someone are in a tall building and there is a

fire, they should use the stairs for coming down, never use the lift and always use fire exit.

Similarly, he said, the companies installing fire extinguishing machines’ should examine machines within every six months and impart training to inmates to cope with emergencies.

The doctor said in case of electrical fire, one should turn off mains connection and buttons, then put sand on the fire, never pour water on a connected or live wire.

“If clothes catch fire, pour water if available, rap a blanket around, stop where you are: drop the group and don’t run,” he said.

“If you smell gas, close cylinder valve and burner knob, open doors and window, ventilate, do not touch electric switches, if smell persists, inform your dealer,” he added.

“If you suffer a burn injury, hold your hand under running tap water for two minutes, apply only burn ointment like silver sulphadizne

cream, transport the patient to the nearest hospital dealing with burns, don’t give burnt person anything to eat until doctor has seen him and remove jewelry as later swelling appears and it will be difficult to remove,” he added.