Download PDF
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Plast Surg 2010; 43(S 01): S131-S135
DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-1699470
Reflections
Association of Plastic Surgeons of India

Managing burn patients in a fire disaster: Experience from a burn unit in Bangladesh

S. R. Mashreky
Centre for Injury Prevention and Research Bangladesh (CIPRB), Bangladesh
,
S. Bari
1   Burn Unit, Dhaka Medical Colleges, Bangladesh
,
S. L. Sen
1   Burn Unit, Dhaka Medical Colleges, Bangladesh
,
A. Rahman
Centre for Injury Prevention and Research Bangladesh (CIPRB), Bangladesh
,
T. F. Khan
2   Centre for Medical Education, Bangladesh
,
F. Rahman
Centre for Injury Prevention and Research Bangladesh (CIPRB), Bangladesh
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
15 January 2020 (online)

Also available at
  PDF Download Permissions and Reprints

ABSTRACT

Although burn disaster is not a frequent event, with urbanisation and industrialisation, burn disaster is becoming an emerging problem in Bangladesh. On 3 June 2010, a fire disaster killed 124 people in Neemtali, Dhaka, Bangladesh. This paper narrates the management of burn patients of this disaster in the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital. The burn unit managed 192 burn victims of the disaster. Forty-two victims were admitted and 150 of them received primary care at the emergency room and were sent back home. Ten patients among 42 in-patients died. The in-patient mortality was 23.8%. Burn unit in Dhaka Medical College Hospital is the only burn management centre in Bangladesh. Proper planning and coordinated effort by all sectors and persons concerned were the key elements in this successful management.

KEY WORDS

Disaster management - fire disaster - problems in inferno
 

  • REFERENCES

  • 1 Available from: http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8537798.stm [last accessed on 2010 Jun 16].
  • 2 Available from: http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=153475andcid=2 [last accessed on 2010 Jun 16].
  • 3 Mashreky SR, Rahman A, Chowdhury SM, Khan TF, Svanstrom L, Rahman F. Non-fatal burn is a major cause of illness: Findings from the largest community-based national survey in Bangladesh. Inj Prev 2009;15:397-402.
  • 4 Welling L, van Harten SM, Patka P, Bierens JJ, Boers M, Luitse JS, et al. The cafe’ fire on New Year's Eve in Volendam, the Netherlands: Description of events. Burns 2005;31:548-54.
  • 5 Agbenorku P, Akpaloo J, Farhat BF, Hoyte-Williams PE, Yorke J, Agbenorku M, et al. Burn disasters in the middle belt of Ghana from 2007 to 2008 and their consequences. Burns 2010 [In press].
  • 6 Masellis M, Gunn SW. Thermal agent disaster and burn dister: Definition, damage, assessment and relief operation. Ann MBC 1991;4:4.
  • 7 Magliacani G, Masellis M. Guidelines for fir disaster medical management in Mediterranean countries. Ann Burns Fire Disasters 1999;12:1.
  • 8 Masellis M, Ferrara MM, Gunn SW. Fire disaster and burn disaster: Planning and management. Ann Burns Fire Disasters 1999;12:2.