ABSTRACT
This study uses a 4-year (2006-2009) cross-section of epidemiological burn injury data from Georgia and South Carolina. The results from the study show that the burn patients from rural areas differ from their urban counterparts in terms of relative burn injury incidence. Younger population groups that live in lower socioeconomic status communities especially in the urban areas are at a higher risk than other population groups. The differences in the types of burns in the urban-rural communities can give us further insights to the patients' association with injury sites. The presence of fewer burn injury treatment and care facilities in rural areas and the high incidence of burn in low-income communities in the urban areas should carry important policy implications for health planners. This study will enable researchers to understand the epidemiology of burn injuries at the local and national levels in the United States. It also carries important implications for using Geographic Information Systems for studying spatial distribution of burn injuries for disaster planning and mitigation of burn injuries.
ABSTRACT
A large number of burns are sustained every year as the result of kitchen grease. A review of a 13-month period at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Georgia, revealed 60 cases (9.4% of acute burn admissions). Forty-five (75%) of these patients were adults and 25% were children. There were 23 females and 37 males. Forty-two percent of the adults and 33% of the children had some percentage of third-degree injury. The average total body surface area burn in adults was 5.9% and in children 6.3%. There were no deaths in this series. Burns usually occurred as the result of scalds with grease while cooking. Spilling grease on children in the kitchen was a frequent problem. Burns due to ignition of grease was also a cause of injury. Most of the injuries were potentially preventable, and therefore the importance of burn appropriate safety programs is stressed.
