International
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, because they change. Before you rely on these cards, ask a medical professional or a fire safety specialist to review them. Disclaimer
Do this first
Hold the burn under cool running water for a full twenty minutes. Start now. Time matters more than anything else.
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 stopping, dropping and rolling, or by smothering it 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 exactly where it is.
- After cooling, cover the burn loosely with cling film laid on, not wrapped tight, or with a clean, non-fluffy cloth.
- Keep the person warm everywhere else. Cooling a large burn cools the whole body, and children chill fast.
- For any large or deep burn, call 112 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 already made.
- Do not pull off clothing stuck to a burn. Cut around it and leave it for 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 older person, any electrical or chemical burn, and 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?
Cool showers, plain moisturiser or aloe once the skin is cooled, water to drink, and 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, because they change. Before you rely on these cards, ask a medical professional or a fire safety specialist to review them.