Protect young lives and prevent burn injuries at home

Each year, 3 500 South Africans suffer severe burns, with countless others sustaining minor injuries. These devastating burns can result in scarring, disfigurement, disability, and even death.

Of all these burn victims, a worrying 85% treated are younger than six and 98% are from disadvantaged communities. To mitigate the impact of burn injuries, particularly in high-risk environments such as kitchens and workplaces, it is crucial to focus on prevention and awareness.

Silent killer

Burns are a silent killer, especially for young children, says Omy Naidoo, a registered dietitian and founder of Nutrition Wellness Dieticians.

“The most common causes of burns include steam, hot bath water, tipped-over coffee cups, hot foods, and cooking fluids. Alarmingly, children under five in the African region are twice as likely to die from burns as children worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).”
Dietitian Omy Naidoo

Prevention starts at home and the first place to ensure safety, is the kitchen.

Recently, Ener-G-Africa (EGA) launched its cookware manufacturing facility in Paarl in the Western Cape, producing a range of clean-burning, fuel-efficient stoves to promote clean cooking and prevent devastating fires.

“Cooking remains largely the unrecognised responsibility of women in Africa. Every day, millions of women across the continent have no option but to cook in unsafe conditions, using inefficient equipment. They spend hours collecting firewood for fuel, and cooking on primitive, unhealthy and often dangerous wood-burning stoves,” says André Moolman, CEO at Ener-G-Africa.

Ener-G-Africa’s clean cooking solutions extend to innovations in the form of sustainable fuels, such as pellets made from peanut shells, banana stems, cotton stalks and other byproducts, and stoves that work with solar panels. This greatly decreases the risk of fire and smoke inhalation.

Recovering from burn injuries

The road to recovery from a serious burn injury can be long and painful. The physical and emotional scars can last for a lifetime, however, there are ways in which you can help your body to recover.

Naidoo says nutrition plays a role in the recovery process for burn injuries.

“With burns, there is a marked hypermetabolism which means the body requires a lot more calories, protein and nutrients due to the burn. Nutrition plays a role in burn wound healing as well as helps the body deal with the stress of the actual burn.”
Dietitian Omy Naidoo

She shares that a balanced diet supports wound healing and reduces complications of post-burn injuries. “Protein plays a vital role in wound healing, as well as micronutrients such as vitamin A, C, E, some B vitamins, zinc and glutamine. These help with oxidative stress caused by the burn.”

People with burn injuries might have some nutritional challenges. Naidoo explains that patients are sometimes unable to consume enough calories and protein due to the burn, they have a loss of appetite, and sometimes they need to repeatedly go back into the theatre for debridement of the wound which means longer periods of starvation.

Naidoo advises consultation with a dietitian to assist in working out a nutritional plan for burn victims.

“Dietitians calculate how much to consume using formulas that take into consideration, [for example], a child’s weight, height, percentage of body surface area burned. Let’s take action to prevent these devastating injuries and ensure a safer future for our children.”

Tips to prevent fires and burns

Most of the times, burn injuries and the heartache of losing a loved one in a devastating event, can be prevented.

The Western Cape health department shared the following tips for preventing fires and treating burn injuries:

Invest in a cordless kettle.
Put all hot drinks, hot cooking oil and hot porridge out of reach of children.
Do not carry urns or pots of boiling water around while there are toddlers on the floor or children running about.
Turn pot handles away from the front of the stove.
Put candles in a deep glass bottle with sand in the bottom so it will be put out if it falls over.
Repair all faulty electrical plugs and leads.
Report stolen cover plates on power poles or substations with broken fences or locks.
Do not leave children unsupervised near matches, candles, lighters or fireworks or when they are in or near the kitchen.
Lock paraffin and other flammables, including “safe” gels away.
Do not cover braai fires with sand. The heat stays in the sand for hours and will burn unsuspected feet walking over the sand. Pour water over fires and coals.
Do not cook eggs in a microwave. The shell can explode and cause severe face and eye injuries.
Noodles cooked in microwave ovens become extremely hot, along with the container, and can cause severe burns.
Pour cold water into the bath first and then add hot water. Set your geyser to low temperatures (about 55 degrees). Always test the bath water with your elbow before bathing children.
Avoid using tablecloths or anything a child can pull on and cause hot food or liquid to spill.
Never hold a child while cooking.
Test and stir all food before serving children to make sure it is cool enough to eat.
Should anyone sustain a burn injury involving flames, the victim should stop, drop and roll to put out the flames.
Do not touch electrical injury victims before being removed from the current – use a stick or non-conductor to avoid rescuer injury or death.
The heat from a fire, hot water or electrical burn will continue to burn the tissue long after the offending contact is removed. It is essential to stop the burning by keeping the burnt body part under cold running tap water for 20 minutes. Do not use ice or ice water; it can cause frostbite because the skin is already damaged.
Do not apply butter or any oil-based product to a burn injury, the oil can trap the heat and make the burn deeper over time.