Burn care
Burn care focuses on the treatment and minimization of burn injuries, often specifically focusing on reconstructive services.
Burn specialists in Richmond, Virginia
Our team offers support alongside healing.
Chippenham Hospital's burn and reconstruction center brings together specialists from various medical disciplines, such as plastic surgery and physical therapy, to provide you with exemplary care. Our team delivers personalized burn treatment plans to help you heal faster.
Types of burns we treat
In the event of burns and resulting complications, our doctors are ready to treat any member of your family, from children to adults. The types of burn injuries that should be referred to our center include:
- Burns and accompanying trauma
- Chemical burns
- Electrical burns
- Friction burns
- Inhalation injuries
- Lightning injuries
- Radiation burns
- Third-degree burns
Our burn treatments and services
Our Level I Burn Center offers a wide range of advanced treatments. We do everything in our capacity to return you to the highest possible level of independence and function.
Burn treatments and services
Severe burns are considered traumatic wounds, so our burn care services are provided through our wound care program and supported by our Level I Trauma Center and Level I Burn Center. Depending on your condition, you may receive one or more of the following treatments and services:
- Custom garment application
- Hydrotherapy
- Hyperbaric medicine
- Laser treatment
- Nutrition counseling
- Pediatric burn care
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation
- Reconstructive surgery
- Skin graft surgery
- Speech-language pathology
- Tissue expanders
- Tissue transfers or flaps
Hyperbaric medicine
Hyperbaric medicine, also called hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), involves breathing pure oxygen within a sealed, pressurized environment. We use this treatment to heal a variety of wounds, including severe burns.
HBOT helps burns heal by increasing the oxygen saturation in your blood. When this oxygen-saturated blood reaches the burned area of your body, it promotes new, healthy tissue growth.
Skin graft surgery
Skin grafting procedures involve a surgeon covering burns with healthy skin extracted from another area of your body or from another person. This type of treatment helps minimize scarring.
Pediatric burns
We use specialized pediatric equipment specifically designed for children 15 years old and younger. Some of our equipment is smaller to accommodate our smaller patients, and our experts understand how burns impact a child's body differently than an adult's.
Our burn treatment team
We make sure that your care is handled by a multidisciplinary burn treatment team so that you receive the depth and breadth of care that you deserve. Our burn care team includes:
- Burn and trauma surgeons
- Burn care nurses
- Case managers
- Physical therapists
- Plastic surgeons
- Psychologists
- Respiratory therapists
- Social workers
More information about burns
We take great pride in treating you, and part of that is educating you about how to avoid needing our care. Learn more about different types of burns and ways to stay safe.
Levels of burns
Burns vary in their severity, and are classified by degrees:
- First-degree burns affect just the outer layer of skin. The skin will be red and swollen and you will be in some pain.
- Second-degree burns are called partial-thickness burns and involve the first and second layers of skin. The skin will be bright red, swollen, and blistery, and you will be in severe pain.
- Third-degree burns are called full-thickness burns and involve all layers of the skin and underlying tissues. You would have a wound appearing charred, black, white and leathery or waxy. You may not be in any pain because the nerves on the skin are damaged.
Home burn and fire safety
According to the National Safe Kids Campaign, burns and fires are common causes of accidental deaths in children and adults. Hot tap water burns cause more deaths and hospitalizations than burns from any other hot liquids. The good news is that the vast majority of burns are easily preventable, and fire safety rules are easy to implement in your home.
We offer the following fire safety tips for you and your family:
- Blow out candles before you leave the room or before you go to sleep.
- Create and practice a home fire escape plan with two ways out of every room in case of a fire.
- Have a working smoke alarm on every level and every sleeping area of your home.
- Teach children to never play with matches and lighters — store those items when not in use.
- Limit distractions when cooking and don’t leave a hot oven or stovetop unattended.
- Teach children to get low and get out at the sound of a smoke alarm.
We offer additional tips for keeping children safe from starting fires, getting burned or burning others:
- Keep children away from the stove when cooking.
- Keep hot drinks away from the edge of tables and counters and don’t use tablecloths or placemats.
- Never hold or carry a child with a hot drink in your hand.
- Run your hand through bath water to test for hot spots.
- Set your water heater at 120 degrees (48 degrees Celsius) or just below the medium setting.
- Stir microwaved food and test temperature before serving.
- Use a travel mug with a tight-fitting lid for all hot drinks.
- Use a thermometer to test the water coming out of your bath water tap.
- Use back burners and turn pot handles toward the back of the stove so your child cannot pull them down.
- Use oven mitts when cooking or handling hot food and drinks.
Holiday cooking safety
Our team wants to help you and your loved ones to have a safe and healthy holiday season.