According to the World Health Organization, about 180,000 deaths are attributed to burns every year. Nonfatal burns are a major cause of morbidity.
The good news is that burnouts are preventable, and we’re learning some great strategies for doing so Family Oops and Burns First Aid.
This powerful little book, all 28 pages and measuring 5.5 x 5.5 inches square, contains a wealth of self-care knowledge on preventing and treating burns at home and in the workplace; The WHO confirms the two places where most burns occur. Family Op is a wonderful example of how a health literacy project can be packaged and communicated as enlightening, engaging, fun, and highly effective.
The book was conceived by Christina (Chrissy) Stiles and illustrated by her art partner Jill Latter.
Last weekend I had the great pleasure of meeting Chrissy, a Plastic Surgery Clinical Nurse Specialist with King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, as well as serving as an ambassador for the Children’s Burns Foundation. He wrote the story inspired by childhood burn patients whose outcomes varied greatly based on the first aid treatment administered at the time of injury.
We first meet the Ops Family, who live in a “holey house by the smoky hill,” two parents and two children who were “careless with hot things” and had no good excuse for being so.
The storyline takes us through four mini-case studies featuring each family member and their burn plight, object lessons on burn risk, followed by actionable tips for preventing and treating each type of injury. Mom didn’t wear sunscreen and left her hot hair iron hanging on the doorknob where Little Girl Oops burned her hand. Daddy’s barbecue catches fire and Baby Ops gets burned by a hot teapot.
We learn the four steps of first aid for burns.
- Remove
- Cool
- Cover and
- Call for help.
The revelation for both my husband and me were the points in the Cool and Cover lines.
Cool is “the most important burn treatment,” advises Family Oops’ Ms. Coolwalter, meaning placing your burned area under cool running water for twenty minutes. Twenty minutes This was the big learning for us.
Then “cover” the frozen burn with a loose film (aka: plastic film) – again, we will have a new lesson for life.
This special booklet has been sponsored by Children’s Burns Trust, Center for Children’s Burns & Trauma Research, Chiesi, Cedar Group and MediWound. It certainly takes a village to prevent and treat burns, especially when we think about our children…
I asked Chrissy what inspired her to put this book together and she explained:
“I am a burn nurse and a mother, which gives me insight into the impact a burn injury can have on those we love and care for the most. Most injuries seen in specialist burn services are hot drink burns before the age of 5 – the most precious, exciting and developmentally malleable years….
“Family Op was born out of the belief that by reading together, we can learn as a family about the importance of burn prevention and first aid. I hope that The Family Oops can inspire our next generation of first responders to make burns and scars a thing of the past, and wouldn’t that be great?”
Yes, my new friend is really cool.
Watch this great video about The Family Oops and share it with the people you love.
Hot spots of Health Populi. My meeting with Chrissy was happy and sweet, at a #PinkSocks meeting of NHS and UK health and tech people who gathered at a London brewpub on Saturday 22nd April.
Blame it all on Nick Adkins, shown here in a long overdue hug with me in the pub.
Pinksocks Life Inc., a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was co-founded by Nick and Andrew Richards on the simple, provocative and very compelling premise of spreading kindness and love through the gift of pink socks. Every time the people gifted with these socks get together, we wear them and smile, hug, and share life, laughter, and the joy of sharing time with people who care about others.
So far, there are more than 100,000 people worldwide who are part of this movement that started in health and technology circles. More recently, pink socks are being rolled out in dozens of schools that are adopting kindness curricula where teachers and students pledge to “Love More.”
One of my favorite photos of the afternoon is this one. meet Chrissy, centre, flanked by two of my NHS healthcare heroes, Dr Theresa Porrett of the Royal College of Nursing and a fierce global educator and nurse advocate, and Roy Lilley, long time. – a one-time NHS chief and now a journalist-communicator-policy analyst whose work I have followed since working as a health consultant in London early in my career.
In this photo, Roy is holding Family Op A book with pride and love. he and Terry are two of the forces behind the Fab NHS Stuff website, which features great content celebrating the best and brightest people, learnings, events… and other great ‘stuff’ in the Health Services.
In the Pink Socks community, our mantra is “Love More”.
Good works like Family Op to embody and communicate that love in the form of meaningful content that puts the power of self-care, prevention, and empowerment in our hands. Thanks Chrissy, thanks Terry and Roy, and most of all thanks Nick and the #PinkSocks movement for spreading the joy of connection.