Burn patients are a little different than regular patients. As Santa Clara Valley is a burn specialty center, we see inhalational injuries, deep burns, and burns involving large areas of skin. The surgeries vary widely; there are the typical skin grafts, but I've also done anesthesia for knee amputations for a burn that was too severe as well as dialysis line placements. Burn patients lose a lot of heat and water through their injuries, making the job of keeping them warm and resuscitating them difficult. Those with smoke injuries can have swelling of their airway. And the extent of their burns may limit IV access and other monitors.
Understanding the patient population of a hospital changes perceptions of things. I found out one of my patients got a whole-body burn "cooking." Astutely, my attending asked what he was cooking - turns out he was trying to mix meth and heroin. That is not an advisable hobby.
Image of third-degree burn is in the public domain, from Wikipedia.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment