Burn Service Assessment

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Setting standards

 

The Operational Standards for Burn Services in Low and Middle-Income Countries are at the heart of Interburns’ integrated comprehensive approach.

Developed through international consensus by burn professionals living and working in resource-poor settings, the Operational Standards set out realistic levels of human and physical resources that burn units in low resource settings can achieve.

As an evidence-based framework, the Standards can be used as practical guidelines for management and staff to improve outcomes for burn patients at three levels of burn unit: Basic; Intermediate and Advanced.

The WHO says the Standards ‘are an important stepping stone towards improving the health systems to which the vast majority of the world’s burn patients present for care, as well as an important contribution to the overall public health challenge of preventing burns worldwide.’

Download a colour poster of the Standards here

Find out more →

 
 
Interburns is the best organisation in the world…for improving burn care where it is needed most.
— Dr Mike Peck, International Outreach Committee, American Burn Association (ABA).

Self assessment

 
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The DAT

Based on the Operational Standards, the Delivery Assessment Tool (DAT) helps the multi disciplinary team (MDT) self assess their burn service to understand strengths and weaknesses and prioritise areas for improvement. An annual process of DAT group discussion helps to guide management and the burn team towards targeted quality improvement initiatives that can be measured over time.

The DAT covers all aspects of burn care including surgical and nursing capacity, prevention, rehabilitation, psychosocial support, outpatient services, nutrition, data management and research. Each of the 10 main service areas is broken down into sub service areas, weighted for relative importance to the delivery of good quality burn care.

A DAT toolkit is freely available at www.DAT4Burns.org. The toolkit contains a practical timeline, a DAT Facilitator Guide and a DAT Notetaker Guide for the team to refer to before and during the group discussion.

Since 2012, the DAT has been used and improved in over 30 hospitals in 8 countries, helping to demonstrate improvement in multiple areas of treatment and service delivery.

10 key areas of burn service →

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I applied the learning to every patient journey. It has helped prevent contractures and deformity..patients can go home with fully functional body movement.
— Physiotherapist, Bangladesh.

Consultancy

 
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Supporting national strategy development.

Interburns has carried out strategic evaluations of national burn services to support government planning for instance in Ethiopia, Iraq and Sierra Leone.

In February 2019, Interburns evaluated regional burn services in Iraq for MSF Suisse working in West Mosul and Sinjar Province. The harsh winter climate, combined with poor infrastructure, irregular power supplies, displaced people and ongoing insecurity issues all contributed to a significant number of burn injuries being seen on a regular basis.

In 2018 and 2019 Interburns was invited through Resurge (Africa) to assess burn services in Sierra Leone following major damage to the health system from a lengthy civil war and the Ebola outbreak. The team provided a detailed framework for capacity building in basic, intermediate and advanced level burn services, as well as prevention, acute care, reconstruction and rehabilitation.

Example: Sierra Leone →

 
 

WHO Technical Working Group recommendations on burns care in mass casualty incidents.

Burn mass casualty incidents occur globally and there is a wide variety in the capacity to respond effectively; the need to strengthen burn care capability is evident. While there has been improved professionalisation and standardisation of care for disaster affected communities, led by the World Health Organisation Emergency Medical Team (EMT) initiative, mass casualty incidents (MCIs) resulting in burn injuries present unique challenges.

Burn management requires specialist skills, expert knowledge, and timely availability of specialist resources. While some high-income countries have well-established disaster management plans, including burn specific plans, many do not. The majority of countries where burn mass casualty events occur do not have established plans. Developing globally relevant recommendations is a first step in addressing this deficit and increasing preparedness to deal with such disasters.

Interburns has worked as part of the WHO Technical Working Group to review literature and define and agree on recommendations for burn care in MCIs.

21 recommendations provide a framework to guide national and international specialist burn teams and health facilities to support delivery of safe care and improved outcomes to burn patients in mass casualty incidents.

Read the published article here.

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