Critically injured burn patients are admitted to the Burn Intensive Care Unit at MedStar Washington Hospital Center for:
- Resuscitation
- Monitoring
- Nursing care
- Surgical intervention
- Initiation of rehabilitation therapy
Criteria for ICU admission include:
- Burns of 20 percent or greater of total body surface area
- Any burn accompanied by inhalation injury
- Any electrical contact or chemical injury; elderly patients with burns; or burns to vital areas-face, hands, feet or perineum
Criteria for transfer to a Burn Center:
(From the Advanced Burn Life Support Providers Manual)
- Second and third degree burns greater than 10 percent TBSA (Total Body Surface Area); inpatients younger than 10 or older than 50 years of age
- Second and third degree burns to greater than 20 percent TBSA in all other ages
- Third degree burns greater than five percent TBSA in patients of any age
- All second and third degree burns with the threat of functional or cosmetic impairment to the face, hands, feet, genitalia, perineum, or major joints
- All electrical burns, including lightning injuries
- Chemical burns
- Curns involving inhalation injury
- Circumferential burns of the extremities and/or chest
- Burns involving concomitant trauma among which the burn injury poses the greatest risk of morbidity or mortality.
- Burns in patients with pre-existing medical conditions that may complicate management and/or prolong recovery, such as coronary artery disease, lung disease, or diabetes
