Ishmael T Onserio

Burns and Shock Ishmael T Onserio

When you work in an emergency department or a trauma center, the major types of injuries that are prevalent include road traffic injuries and burns. These injuries share many similarities in that they are both relatively common, are important causes of death, and many of the victims have lifelong morbidity. There are approximately 4000 deaths each year in the US from fire and burns. A similar figure, proportional to population, is probably found in most developed countries. The problem of burns is even relatively greater in less industrialized countries where the absence of specialized burn care results in much greater morbidity, disability, and mortality for burn victims. The majority of fire deaths are due to smoke inhalation fires, rather than from the burn itself. Smoke inhalation can increase the mortality rate 10-fold for the same size burn, and most of these deaths occur at the scene of the fire. Shock on the other hand is a critical condition brought on by a sudden drop in blood supply or flow through the body. Shock may result from trauma, heatstroke, blood loss, an allergic reaction, severe infection, poisoning, severe burns or other causes. When a person is in shock, the organs aren't getting enough blood or oxygen. If untreated, this can lead to permanent organ damage or even death. It is important to be well versed with knowledge of managing these two conditions since they are common in daily health care set ups. This book goes an extra mile to elaborate these aspects in a simple, but elaborative way to give you the reader an upper hand in understanding these two conditions. Read through and replenish your medical knowledge.