Translation, Implementation, and Evaluation of Best-Practice Burn First Aid in Prolonged Field Care and Prehospital Environments
Abstract
When cool running water is applied for 20 minutes within the first 3 hours after a burn injury, it decreases the depth of the burn, need for skin grafting, hospital admission, and number of operating room procedures, thereby significantly improving long-term patient outcomes. Cool running water is simple enough to be given by civilians without formal medical training. It can be administered by (i) non-medical first responders prior to arrival of Emergency Medicine Services (EMS), and/or (ii) medical/EMS providers in the pre-hospital setting or prolonged field care (PFC) scenarios where access to a hospital may be delayed (such as military combat/tactical situations, wildfires, rural and remote regions, or other disaster events). Despite the evidence and relative ease of the intervention, best-practice burns first aid has not been adopted by U.S. pre-hospital and EMS organizations. This study, conducted over 4 years, aims to identify and address barriers to the uptake of this best practice through engagement with clinicians, firefighters, civilian first responders, and specialists in design solutions. Through this collaboration and enquiry with the multiple first responders responsible for burns first aid, we will develop a set of implementation strategies that can influence the adoption (into guidelines), adherence (demonstrated practice change), and sustainability (longevity of the practice after the project is finished). After the rollout of these co-developed implementation strategies, we will examine if patients who received the treatment after the implementation experience improved outcomes compared to patients who suffered burns prior to the implementation. Key stakeholders believe this opportunity is critical for transforming burns first aid treatment nationally, independently achieving substantial improvements in patient outcomes, and overall health services burden. With targeted stakeholder engagement across varied fields, we believe lessons learned in the wildfire, disaster events, and remote regions will have direct correlations to the use of cool running water for burns in military situations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Dec 05, 2021
- Source ID
- W81XWH2110965
Entities
People
- Bronwyn Griffin
Organizations
- Griffith University
- United States Army