February 1-7, 2009, is Burn Awareness Week, and during this week,
Shriners Hospitals for Children will kick-off a year-long campaign
focused on preventing gasoline burn injuries.
“Preventing burn injuries and burn awareness education should
be an ongoing effort, not just a week-long campaign,” said Peter
Armstrong, M.D., chief medical officer at Shriners Hospitals for
Children. “We are declaring 2009 the year of ‘Preventing Gasoline Burn
Injuries.'”
According to a study published in the November 2007 issue of
the Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation, there are an estimated
10,000 pediatric burn injuries annually in the United States. “Most of
these types of burn injuries are preventable,” Dr. Armstrong said.
Since 2002, Shriners Hospitals for Children has treated more
than 800 children for acute burns caused by ignition of a highly
flammable material, such as gasoline. Kids 13 and older are in the
highest at-risk group for gasoline and other flammable substance burns.
Shriners Hospitals for Children encourages firefighters,
teachers, parents, caregivers and other members of the community to
participate in the year-long campaign by visiting
www.burnawarenessweek.org for important gasoline safety and burn
prevention messages and tips and information on how to order free
materials, including lesson plans for students in grades K-3, facts
sheets about gasoline safety, coloring books, crayons, stickers and
copies of a DVD developed specifically for teen audiences.
A special Web site has been developed for the campaign. Visit Burn Awareness Week for more information.
