TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - One year of burns at a Role 3 medical treatment facility in Afghanistan
JO  - Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps
A1  - Jeevaratnam, Johann A.
A1  - Pandya, A. N.
SP  - 22
EP  - 26
VL  - 160
IS  - 1
N2  - OBJECTIVES: Historically, burns have formed a significant proportion of the casualties of war. The management of burns in recent conflict has been found to be a resource-heavy undertaking, though its impact on both personnel and resources in current conflicts is unclear. A case analysis has been carried out in order to quantify the logistical impact of the management of burns on Role 3 Medical Treatment Facility (MTF) infrastructure and to examine if and how the cause and management of burns have evolved in early 21st century conflict.     METHODS: All casualties treated for burns at a Role 3 MTF over one calendar year were identified and scanned copies of their notes obtained from the UK Joint Theatre Trauma Registry and retrospectively analysed.     RESULTS: 88 of the 1461 (6.0%) trauma patients presenting to the Role 3 MTF over the year were treated for burns of whom 52.3% were combat troops and 45.4% civilians. Half of the burns were caused by non-conflict related mechanisms; the two commonest mechanisms were flame burns in 38/88 mostly non-conflict related cases and blast in 30/88 cases most of which were conflict related.     CONCLUSIONS: The management of burns at war is a complex process. It is further confounded by the management of civilians with non-conflict related burns, which places a predictable strain on Role 3 MTF resources: theatre time, nursing time, dressing resources and bed space. This must be planned for in current and future deployed operations.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0035-8665
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jramc-2013-000100
ID  - ref1
ER  -