[Sca-cooks] Kitchen and Camp burns

[Catherine Hartley]

I have a little experience here. Even though I know better and all that... I
managed to deep fry a finger or two at Pennsic in 2001. (A case of not
paying attention...)

Fortunately I react quickly and only got a second degree burn on the outside
of two fingers..

What do you do for a burn like that? Put in in ice water. That's it. No
creams, no nothing for quite some time. I went to the EMS at Pennsic and
they told me I did "rightly". Someone wanted to put ointment and aloe on at
the camp, but I said no. I soaked it in in ice water for an hour and decided
to run up to Chirurgeon's point to see if I needed to go to the ER. I didn't
need to since I had done the right thing.

It blistered and the EMS thougth the blister would break (it was huge and
gross) but it didn't.They did put some of the sulfa cream on 24 hours later
in case the skin broke. I can say I don't have any scars. It hurt for
awhile, but I did supervise cooking the next day. The point is that creams
and ointments (even aloe) can hold the heat in and actually make the burn
worse.

All the first aid and other training I ahve had says not to put anyting but
water and loose dressings on burns. Second degree and worse should go to get
professional care, especially if the area where there is damage is
significant. Later, after the initial shock is off and the skin cools, you
can put aloe and creams on for first and second degree burns where the skin
isn't broken.

Caitlin of Enniskillen