Citation

Habarth-Morales TE, Rios-Diaz AJ, Isch E, Qi L, Ni R, Caterson EJ. J. Burn Care Res. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, American Burn Association, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1093/jbcr/irac155

PMID

36260537

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many Americans to adapt their daily routines. In 2020, there was a significant increase in house fires according to the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA). The objective of this study was to characterize the changes in suspected smoke inhalations during the first year of the pandemic in the National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS). The NEMSIS database was queried for all EMS transports captured between 2017-2020. Differences in the incidences of suspected smoke inhalations and fire dispatches in 2020 were estimated using Poisson regression models. There was a 13.4% increase in the incidence of fire dispatches and a 15% increase in suspected smoke inhalations transported in 2020 compared to the previous 3 years. The IRR of both fire dispatches (1.271; 95% CI: 1.254-1.288; p<0.001) and suspected smoke inhalation (1.152; 95% CI: 1.070-1.241; p<0.001) was significantly elevated in 2020. The increases in fire dispatches and suspected smoke inhalations observed in the NEMSIS database are in concordance with other literature indicating the increase in fire incidence and morbidity observed during the pandemic. These results should inform fire prevention outreach efforts and resource allocation in burn centers in the event of future pandemic.

Language: en

Keywords

epidemiology; house fire; NEMSIS; suspected smoke inhalation