Five days of burn awareness

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is showing its support for National Burn Awareness Day on October 16 and will be hosting five full days of action to help highlight the dangers of burns and scalds across the county.

Cheshire Burn Awareness Week (October 14-18) will see staff working alongside other organisations to urge people to take care around hot drinks, cookers or naked flames and candles and they will be going out and about giving vital first aid advice to people at children’s nurseries, schools and older person’s homes.

Burns and scalds can cause physical and emotional scars to both young and elderly sufferers and a potential hazard such as a boiling kettle or a saucepan full of hot fat can also cause lasting damage to a person.

Raising awareness of the main causes of burns and scalds is the object of the campaign along with people knowing what to do if someone suffers burns of any kind.

Using music and drama to help get valuable burns, scalds and first aid advice across to people of all ages, the Service is also working with Manchester Camerata to produce STOP, DROP AND ROLL – ‘Safety in the Seasons’, a music and drama project that will bring together four primary schools from across Cheshire. The production will tackle fire safety issues, by creating a new piece of musical theatre when it’s performed at the Parr Hall in Warrington on Tuesday October 15, and tickets are free by emailing: juliette.o’neill@cheshire.pnn.police.uk

Staff will be promoting the SafeTea Campaign as part of the week, which is a national push to raise awareness of how easily a child can be severely scalded with hot drinks. The launch of the SafeTea campaign takes place on October 16, which is National Burn Awareness Day.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Gus O’Rourke said: “We know that children under five and elderly people are more at risk from suffering a burn or scald. Hot drinks are the most common cause of scald injury in children – followed by contact with electric cookers, hair straighteners, irons and central heating radiators. 

“We will be supporting the National Burn Awareness Day and the SafeTea Campaign to help prevent burns and scalds from such things as hot drinks and we will also be promoting how to immediately treat a burn or scald. This advice could make an enormous difference to a sufferer’s recovery time and the severity of any scarring.”

Following the two safety messages below may help someone in an emergency and could save a life:

STOP, DROP, ROLL – If your clothes catch fire, running around won’t help.  You must always stop, drop to the ground (cover you face with your hands) and roll over and over.  Make sure you roll over a few times, to ensure that you put the fire out. 

COOL, CALL, COVER – Good first aid following a burn or scald can make an enormous difference in recovery times and the severity of scarring. First aid advice from the British Burn Association:

1. Cool the burn with running cold tap water for 20 minutes and remove all clothing and jewellery (unless it is melted or firmly stuck to the wound).
2. Call for help: 999, 111 or local GP for advice.
3. Cover with cling film or a sterile, non-fluffy dressing or cloth. Make sure the patient is kept warm.

Once you have taken these steps, you’ll then need to decide whether further medical treatment is necessary. 

Visit the website www.cheshirefire.gov.uk for more advice.