United States
Burns
Use at your own risk. For education and research only, not medical advice. Check the numbers and rules for the country you are in. They change. Before you rely on these cards, have a medical professional or a fire safety specialist review them. Disclaimer
Do this first
Hold the burn under cool running water for a full twenty minutes. Start immediately.
A burn keeps cooking the tissue for many minutes after the heat source is gone. Twenty minutes of cool running water is the one treatment that limits how deep it goes, and it still helps if you start within three hours.
Step by step
- Get the person away from the heat. Put out burning clothing by having them stop, drop and roll, or by smothering the flames with a blanket.
- Hold the burn under cool running water, around 15 to 25 degrees, for a full twenty minutes. Do not use ice or iced water.
- While cooling, remove rings, watches and loose clothing near the burn before it swells. Leave anything stuck to the skin where it is.
- After cooling, cover the burn loosely with plastic wrap laid on flat, not wrapped tight, or with a clean non-fluffy cloth.
- Keep the rest of the person warm. Cooling a large burn cools the whole body, and children chill fast.
- Call 911 for any large or deep burn, and give the person small sips of water while you wait.
- Treat every electrical and chemical burn as serious. For chemicals, keep rinsing well beyond twenty minutes.
Never do this
- Do not put butter, oil, toothpaste, ice or any cream on a fresh burn. Anything except water makes the damage worse and harder to assess.
- Do not burst blisters. They are the sterile dressing your body has already made.
- Do not pull off clothing stuck to a burn. Cut around it and leave the rest to the hospital.
Call emergency services if
- A burn larger than the person's palm, or any deep burn that is white, leathery or painless.
- Any burn to the face, neck, hands, feet, genitals or across a joint, and any burn that goes all the way around a limb.
- A burned child or elderly person, any electrical or chemical burn, or anyone who breathed in smoke or hot air.
Common questions
Why twenty minutes? Ten felt like plenty.
The heat stored in the tissue keeps deepening the burn long after the pain eases. The studies behind current guidance show that twenty minutes of running water measurably reduces the depth of the burn and the need for surgery.
What about sunburn?
Take cool showers, use plain moisturizer or aloe once the skin has cooled, drink water and stay in the shade until it settles. See a doctor for blisters over a large area, fever or a sunburned baby.
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Sources and standards
Use at your own risk. For education and research only, not medical advice. Check the numbers and rules for the country you are in. They change. Before you rely on these cards, have a medical professional or a fire safety specialist review them.