Burn Units in Canada

[mariomike]

In case of a burn related MCI in Ontario, Canada’s largest burn centre is at Sunnybrook Hospital. It has 14 beds.

Thirty percent of patients come from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), while 70% are referred from across Ontario.

The Hospital for Sick Children "Sick Kids" is Canada's busiest pediatric burn centre with 14 beds.

When one considers a nightclub fire in Boston killed 492 , and injured 130 , that's not a lot of beds .

 

[Staff Weenie]

Compound that with the fact that these are not typically short-stay patients. I suspect some of those beds are occupied for months at a time.

 

[Haggis]

Compound that with the fact that these are not typically short-stay patients. I suspect some of those beds are occupied for months at a time.

I have an older cousin who suffered second and third degree burns over, I think, 60% of his body while 3 years old. He spent two years in a burn unit.

 

[Blackadder1916]

For context to the discussion, some info about guidelines used for burn patient referrals. The Canadian Burn Association endorses the ABA guidelines and protocols.

Burn Patient Referral Guidelines | American Burn Association

Guide clinical teams and burn centers with ABA’s burn patient referral guidelines. Includes best practices in assessment, fluid resuscitation, pediatric care, and second-degree burns.

www.ameriburn.org

Guidelines for Burn Patient Referral​

Developed to support clinical teams, these guidelines are intended to aid in referral decisions and should not be used as a substitute for professional judgment. If referencing or sharing these guidelines, please cite the American Burn Association as the original source.

If you have sustained a burn injury, please seek medical advice from a medical professional.

And a couple of referral guidelines/algorithms from Ontario.

https://kwemamd.ca/documents/CCSO_Burn-Centre-Consultation-Guidelines_EN_20240131.pdf

https://tbrhsctraumaprogram.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Trauma-Burn-Guidelines.pdf

And for those who like to get down into the weeds, this 2023 Master's of Nursing thesis "Burn Mass Casualty Incident Planning in Alberta: A Case Study".

https://ucalgary.scholaris.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/c9394125-4b4e-40ff-a8ad-3a582e94eec7/content

 

[mariomike]

When the Cocoanut Grove went up in flames , the 171 victims who made it alive to Boston City and Mass General hospitals became subjects in the most comprehensive clinical trial in the annals of burn treatment,” writes Barbara Ravage in her book Burn Unit: Saving Lives After the Flames.