Fire & Burn
Disasters Talk

Fire damage refers to the damage or destruction of goods and property caused by fire. Financially, fire damage is often covered by fire insurance.Fire damage can lead to numerous legal questions of responsibility and liability. Fire damage is extremely costly. For example, residential fires cause approximately $51 million worth of damage every year in Alberta, Canada. Fires destroy an average of 300 km2 of forest annually in Greece.Fire protection is the prevention and reduction of the hazards associated with fires. Fireproofing refers to the act of making materials or structures more resistant to fire.Fire insurance can mitigate the financial impact of fire damage. Fire and water restoration specialists can help speed repairs.Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products.[1] Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition. The flame is the visible portion of the fire and consists of glowing hot gases. If hot enough, the gases may become ionized to produce plasma. Depending on the substances alight, and any impurities outside, the color of the flame and the fire’s intensity might vary.Fire in its most common form can result in conflagration, which has the potential to cause physical damage through burning. Fire is an important process that affects ecological systems across the globe. The positive effects of fire include stimulating growth and maintaining various ecological systems. Fire has been used by humans for cooking, generating heat, signaling, and propulsion purposes. The negative effects of fire include decreased water purity, increased soil erosion, an increase in atmospheric pollutants and an increased hazard to human life.Fire fighting services are provided in most developed areas to extinguish or contain uncontrolled fires. Trained firefighters use fire apparatus, water supply resources such as water mains and fire hydrants or they might use A and B class foam depending on what is feeding the fire.

Fire prevention is intended to reduce sources of ignition. Fire prevention also includes education to teach people how to avoid causing fires. Buildings, especially schools and tall buildings, often conduct fire drills to inform and prepare citizens on how to react to a building fire. Purposely starting destructive fires constitutes arson and is a crime in most jurisdictions.Model building codes require passive fire protection and active fire protection systems to minimize damage resulting from a fire. The most common form of active fire protection is fire sprinklers. To maximize passive fire protection of buildings, building materials and furnishings in most developed countries are tested for fire-resistance, combustibility and flammability. Upholstery, carpeting and plastics used in vehicles and vessels are also tested.A burn is a type of injury to the skin caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation or friction.Most burns only affect the skin (epidermal tissue and dermis). Rarely deeper tissues, such as muscle, bone, and blood vessels can also be injured. Managing burns is important because they are common, painful and can result in disfiguring bedroom vanity and disabling scarring. Burns can be complicated by shock, infection, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, electrolyte imbalance and respiratory distress. Large burns can be fatal, but modern treatments, developed in the last 60 years, have significantly improved the prognosis of such burns, especially in children and young adults.A number of different classification systems exist. The traditional system divided burns in first-, second-, or third-degree.This system is however being replaced by one reflecting the need for surgical intervention. The burn depths are described as either superficial, superficial partial-thickness, deep partial-thickness, or full-thickness.# First-degree burns are usually limited to redness (erythema), a white plaque and minor pain at the site of injury. These burns involve only the epidermis. Most sunburns can be included as first-degree burns.Second-degree burns manifest as erythema with superficial blistering of the skin, and can involve more or less pain depending on the level of nerve involvement. Second-degree burns involve the superficial (papillary) dermis and may also involve the deep (reticular) dermis layer. Deep dermal burns usually take more than three weeks to heal and should be seen by a surgeon familiar with burn care, as in some cases severe hypertrophic scarring can result. Burns that require more than three weeks to heal are often excised and skin grafted for best result.Third-degree burns occur when the epidermis is lost with damage to the subcutaneous tissue. Burn victims will exhibit charring and extreme damage of the epidermis, and sometimes hard eschar will be present. Third-degree burns result in scarring and victims will also exhibit the loss of hair shafts and keratin. These burns may require grafting. These burns are not painful, as all the nerves have been damaged by the burn and are not sending pain signals; however, all third-degree burns are surrounded by first and second-degree burns. Burns can also be assessed in terms of total body surface area (TBSA), which is the percentage affected by partial thickness or full thickness burns (erythema/superficial thickness burns are not counted). The rule of nines  is used as a quick and useful way to estimate the affected TBSA. More accurate estimation can be made using Lund & Browder charts which take into account the different proportions of body parts in adults and children.The size of the patient’s hand print (palm and fingers) is approximately 1% of their TBSA. The actual mean surface area is 0.8% so using 1% will slightly over estimate the size.Burns of 10% in children or 15% in adults (or greater) are potentially life threatening injuries (because of the risk of hypovolaemic shock) and should have formal fluid resuscitation and monitoring in a burns unit.Most chemicals that cause severe chemical burns are strong acids or bases.Chemical burns can be caused by caustic chemical compounds such as sodium hydroxide or silver nitrate, and acids such as sulfuric acid. Hydrofluoric acid can cause damage down to the bone and its burns are sometimes not immediately evident.Electrical burns are caused by either an exogenous electric shock or an uncontrolled short circuit. (A burn from a hot, electrified heating element is not considered an electrical burn.) Common occurrences of electrical burns include workplace injuries, or being defibrillated or cardioverted without a conductive gel. Lightning is also a rare cause of electrical burns. Since normal physiology involves a vast number of applications of electrical forces, ranging from neuromuscular  signaling to coordination of wound healing, biological revitol stretch mark cream systems are very vulnerable to application of supraphysiologic electric fields. Some electrocutions produce no external burns at all, as very little current is required to cause fibrillation of the heart of how to attract women and muscle. Therefore, even when the injury does not involve any visible tissue damage, electrical shock survivors may experience significant internal injury.The internal injuries sustained may be disproportionate to the size of the burns seen (if any), and the extent of the damage is not always obvious. Such injuries may lead to save marriage issues and cardiac arrhythmias, cardiac arrest, and unexpected falls with resultant fractures. Radiation burns are caused by protracted exposure to UV light (as from the sun), tanning booths, radiation therapy (as patients who are undergoing cancer therapy), sunlamps, radioactive fallout, and X-rays. By far the most common burn associated with radiation is sun exposure, specifically two wavelengths of light UVA, and UVB, the latter being more dangerous. Tanning booths also emit these wavelengths and may cause similar damage to the skin such as irritation, redness, swelling, and inflammation. More severe cases of sun burn result in what is known as sun poisoning. Microwave burns are caused by the thermal effects of microwave radiation. Scalding is caused by hot liquids (water or oil) or gases (steam), most commonly occurring from exposure to high temperature tap water in baths or showers or spilled hot drinks so you will find it diifcult to learn how to sing for example. A so called immersion burn is created when an extremity is held under the surface of hot water, and is a common form of burn seen in child abuse.A blister is a “bubble” in the skin filled with serous fluid  as part of the body’s reaction to the heat and nerve damage. The blister “roof” is dead. Steam is a common gas that causes scalds. The injury is usually regional and usually does not cause death. More revitol hair removal cream damage can be caused if hot liquids enter an orifice. However, deaths have occurred in more unusual circumstances, such as when people have accidentally broken a steam pipe. The demographics that are of the highest risk to suffering from scalding are young children, with their delicate skin, and the elderly over 65 years of age.Burns over 10% in children and 15% in adults need hospital admission and fluid resuscitation due to the risk of hypovolaemic shock.Most countries have explicit criteria for the transfer and management of burns patients.[citation needed] Major burns should be managed using the principles of Advanced Trauma Life Support  (ATLS). This consists of a primary survey to identify and treat immediately life threatening conditions and then a secondary survey. The primary survey in burns patients should follow the ABCDE guidelines (Airway & axial spine control, Breathing & ventilation, Circulation and arrest of haemorrhage, neurological Disability, Exposure to allow accurate assessment and Estimation of burn surface area and bowtrol colon cleanse Fluid resuscitation).[citation needed]  If the patient was involved in a fire accident in an enclosed space, then it must be assumed that he or she has sustained an inhalation injury until proven otherwise, and treatment should be managed accordingly. At this stage of management, it is also critical to assess the airway status. Any suspicion of burn injury to the lungs (e.g. through smoke inhalation) is considered a potential medical emergency and the patient should be reviewed by an anaesthetist. Patients with these types of injuries may receive Rapid Sequence Induction, either in the field by a trained Paramedic, or in the hospital upon arrival.