The resuscitation of burned children.

Burns and scalds remain all too common injuries among children in this country. In any large series of burns in children two major groups are discernible: first the toddler of either sex who is particularly subject to scalds from hot water or tea; secondly, the 5-to-8-year-old, usually a girl, whose clothes catch fire from a naked flame. While the majority of these injuries fall into the 'minor' or 'moderate' categories, each year sees an appreciable number of children admitted with major burns. In the most severe cases, survival for a week or two may represent our present therapeutic limit. Many others will spend long weeks or months in hospital, to emerge once more with an intact skin covering after what can only have been, for a young child, an emotional and physical ordeal. If the coping stone of ultimate recovery is to be reached the foundations must be truly laid, and it is this early fundamental care that forms the subject matter of this presentation.