Hydrogels Included in ANZBA’s Burn Treatment Protocol
The Australian and New Zealand Burn Association (ANZBA) has been the authoritative body on burns treatment and procedure within Australia and New Zealand for 30 years. ANZBA promotes higher standards of both burn injury prevention and burn patient care through research and education. ANZBA is administered by a Board comprised of specialist burns surgeons and medical practitioners.
Education provided by ANZBA includes courses for First Response Emergency Personnel, who come in contact with burns victims. The Emergency Management of Severe Burns (EMSB) course recognises two methods for first response burns treatment, cool running water and Hydrogels.
Typically, applying running water over burns for a period of 10-15minutes will cool the site, although water increases the risk of inducing hypothermia in the patient. Also water does not seal the wound, which is therefore prone to airborne contamination and washes away vital fluids from the wound.
Hydrogels address the primary concerns for the management of burns. Hydrogels stop burn progression through a process of heat transference that uniformly draws heat from the wound and stabilizes body temperature without inducing hypothermia. The gelatinous nature of hydrogels seal the burn, protecting the wound against airborne contamination. Also the fluids on the burn site cannot soak into the carrier dressings or evaporate through them.
Hygrogels are a water based and water soluble solution which will not stick to the wound and makes for easy removal once the victim has reached the hospital. Hydrogels are very practical for use in the field or remote regions, where access to clean running water is limited.
Fig 1. Illustrates the ANZBA EMSB protocol adapted from the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Water-Jel Technologies have developed specifically formulated hydrogel burns dressings and fire blankets that are incomparable in a burns emergency. Water-Jel is a one step emergency burn treatment. Capable of extinguishing flames on a victim and immediately cooling the site of the burn. Water-Jel is bacteriostatic stopping further development of bacteria, also both the solution and dressings are both biodegradable. Water-Jel also contains a softening agent that assists with the debridement process. Water-Jel dressings and fire blankets have a 5-year shelf life and come in a variety of sizes, packaged in hardened plastic canisters or foil satchels.
Water-Jel eases the pain of burn injuries. In a prehospital burn patient study, more than 70% of patients indicated a significant reduction in pain, while 7% verbalized “total pain relief” solely with application of the burn dressing.
In an incident involving multiple victims, Water-Jel is a one step immediate treatment, allowing first responders to administer treatment quickly, accurately and consistently among those affected. Be prepared in a burn emergency and include Water-Jel as part of your first aid kit.