Keeping holidays bright, not burned
Key takeaways:
- Keep children away from where you deep fry a turkey
- While things are busy and loud, stay watchful of kids during the holidays
- Burns are broken up into three degrees
Whether you decided to deep fry a turkey in the driveway, or you’ve just fully embraced soup season, hot food and drinks are plentiful this time of year.
With that comes an increased amount of burn hazards like hot ovens, stovetops, deep fryers and more that you need to look out for, even more so during the busy holiday season.
"If you're deep frying a turkey, I would not have my child anywhere near it, the splashing can get them. They're at a different level from the items," says Tinsley Anderson, MD, a pediatric surgeon with OSF HealthCare Children’s Hospital of Illinois. “So, things on the stove can get pulled down, we see a lot of scald burns on the face, chest and abdomen from kids pulling stuff down on themselves.”
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends always staying in the kitchen while you’re cooking to keep a closer eye on the food. The NFPA says to always be alert while cooking and keep anything that can catch fire (oven mitts, wooden utensils, towels etc.) away from your stovetop.
Some burns are worse than others, that’s why they’re broken up into different degrees.
"There are three main degrees of burn, first being like a light sunburn. The second degree can have some blistering and be a little deeper. Third degree, the most severe type of burn, can look white and be hard and firm. Because the skin and tissue underneath it is completely burnt," Dr. Anderson says.
The dressing of the wound stage is the most important part of treating a wound, Dr. Anderson adds.
"I would say no alcohols or any abrasive, hydrogen peroxide-type cleansing agents should be used to treat burns," Dr. Anderson says. “In the emergency department we use soap and water. Something very simple, regular hand soap.”
Burns from hot food and drinks aren’t solely for the outside of our bodies. Research shows drinking really hot drinks can increase your risk for esophageal and gastric cancers.
If there are severe burns, bring the person to the emergency department (ED) and the medical team will take care of it there.
Dr. Anderson says most cases the ED sees in kids are first- and second-degree burns. Most burns get cleaned up in the ED so the patient is comfortable, and the medical team will then teach them dressing care when they go home.
Larger, deeper and more severe burns can become infected, because bacteria live on the skin, but this is pretty rare. Dr. Anderson says Neosporin is good to put on the wound for comfort and keep the burn from sticking to things like clothes.
To learn more about burn care, visit the OSF HealthCare website.