Winter is National Burns Awareness Month, brought to you by Kidsafe, 1-30 June 2018.

The National Burns Awareness Month aims to drive greater awareness amongst the Australian community of burns prevention and the correct first aid treatment for burns.

With the cooler weather creeping in, did you know the home is the most common location where child burn injuries happen.

79% of childhood burns occur in the home

Kidsafe Australia spokesperson, Holly Fitzgerald, highlighted the burn and scald dangers in the home kitchen, saying this was the location for half of all child burn injuries.

“The majority of burns are preventable. The kitchen is the most dangerous room of the house for a young child to be burned, usually occurring whilst near an adult preparing food or hot drinks. We need to be vigilant and take steps to restrict our children’s access to the kitchen during meal preparation times, to reduce the risk of a serious burn or scald occurring.”

“At Kidsafe, we recommend placing hot drinks safely away from table or bench edges and never holding a child with a hot drink in hand. All it takes is for them to throw their arms around and spill the hot water onto themselves. Hot liquid at 60◦C only takes one second to cause a third-degree burn to a child’s skin. Water boils at 100◦C,” said Ms Fitzgerald.

Other common places where children are at risk of burn injuries include the living room, bathroom, outdoor kitchen or garden, particularly when children were playing.

First aid treatment

The correct first aid treatment for minor burns is ‘Remove, Cool and Cover’ –

• Remove any clothing or jewellery from the area (unless it is stuck to the skin),
• Cool the burn with cool running water for 20 minutes,
• Cover with a clean dressing.

You should seek medical help immediately if the burn is on the on the face, hands, feet, genitals or buttocks, if it is larger than a 20 cent coin or blistered.

Check bath water temperature

Another important thing to note: Always test the bath water temperature before placing your child in. A safe bath temperature is between 37-38 degrees (36 degrees for a newborn). Make sure you turn the cold tap on first and off last, to cool the spout.

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