About

Our approach

Care of burn patients has advanced rapidly in high income countries, but achieving sustained quality in low resource settings requires a systematic approach that fully engages health staff.

From an initial link in 2006 between burn surgeons in India and the UK, Interburns is now a highly regarded UK-based charity that has developed a comprehensive approach to quality improvement in burn treatment and care.

The approach includes: Operational Standards for burn units in low resource settings; a Delivery Assessment Tool (DAT) to help staff understand gaps and prioritise improvements; and Training Programmes in Community Burn Prevention (CBP), Basic Burn Care (BBC), Essential Burn Care (EBC) and Advanced Burn Care (ABC).

Fellowships offer longer term opportunities for staff to gain wider skills, whether clinical, managerial or leadership.

Evidence of impact

Read this article demonstrating the impact of the comprehensive, integrated approach here.

Read about participatory burn prevention work in Nepal.

The Global Situation

95% of burn injuries occur in low income countries, the majority happen in isolated rural areas where patients are treated by health workers who have no training in burn care.

Most burns occur in or around the home and affect children, but rapid urbanisation also causes a significant number of injuries, for instance unregulated electrical wiring, faulty gas canisters, or oil spills.

Delayed, inappropriate or inadequate treatment can be devastating and life long. The initial pain and suffering are often just the start of a long ‘patient journey’’ that can take many turns, depending on the quality of care.

The first six months are critical in determining the quality of life, but follow up and rehabilitation services are often non-existent.

Children are susceptible to infection or long term disability, and families are forced into deep poverty from hospital costs, or the inability to work.

However, simple interventions can prevent complications and hasten recovery. Early skin grafting, correct positioning, encouraging mobility and ensuring adequate nutrition help a physically or emotionally damaged burn victim return to a full and productive life.

The Burn Patient

Burn injuries destroy the body’s first layer of defence: the skin. When left to heal naturally, the skin shrinks and contracts as the body tries to close the gap in its defences. This can result in a ‘contracture’ which fuses one part of the body to another. Preventing skin contractures is the work of a physiotherapist and releasing them requires surgery which is expensive and often unavailable.

Burn victims need fast, appropriate, treatment as soon as possible. This includes, physical therapy, extra nutrition for energy to heal, fluids to prevent dehydration, early surgery or skin grafting.

Resources are important, but good burn care rests on a well-trained, well-led, multi disciplinary team (MDT) of surgeons, nurses, therapists and nutrionists who work together, using locally available resources to achieve best outcomes.

Interburns training programmes are built around this ethos. Our international faculty, the majority from low resource settings, work to disseminate this comprehensive approach.