Oregon Burn Center Offers Life-Saving Program
On February 28, 2000, the Oregon Burn Center at Legacy Emanuel Hospital announced a new program available to citizens in Oregon and Southwest Washington. The Oregon Burn Center State Education and Prevention Program. This program is designed to provide educational and prevention presentations tailored to a variety of age groups and people from differing backgrounds and with specific needs. The programs can be customized for any group or professional organization, from pre-school students to seasoned mill workers. Our primary goals are:
The Oregon Burn Center has provided this type of education on a limited, part-time basis but is now able to dedicate a full time position to this program, thanks to generous grants from PacificCorp Foundation, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 125, Benefit Golf Classic, Portland General Electric, Northwest Natural Gas, and Legacy Emanuel Hospital. There is no cost to the requesting organization and classes can be scheduled for both days and evenings, seven days a week.
Jay Caulk, RN, former Nurse Manager of the Oregon Burn Center and now Coordinator of the Education and Prevention Program teaches the programs. Jay knows well the tragic consequences of burn injuries and that most burns are preventable. As the only burn center between Seattle and Sacramento, the Oregon Burn Center treats over 250 patients each year, one-quarter of them children.
The program has been in operation for almost an entire year and in review, it has been a very successful year. The program has provided more the 91 lectures to a variety of audiences, ranging from school age children, civic organizations, high-risk workers, and all levels of health care providers. The program has traveled over 14,000 miles covering the entire state of Oregon, Southwest Washington, and parts of Eastern Idaho. We have participated in over 13 Safety Fairs, and been invited to share details of this program at the Southeast Regional Burn Conference in Atlanta, Georgia this past December. The program has reached over 15,000 people. All of these accomplishments could not have been possible without the support and generosity of all those who have help raise the money needed to support this program. The results of our efforts in this first year are indeed impressive. The number of total electrical injuries has been reduced by over half from 1999 and the number of professional electrical injuries has been reduced from 8 to 0 in calendar year 2000.
The two charts below visually demonstrate the results of the program. When we began this program, since the main source of funding comes from the efforts of IBEW Local 125, the decision was made to focus our attention on the high-risk workers, specifically the professional electrical worker. We reviewed the total number of electrical injures admitted to the Oregon Burn Center for the last three years, these include all types of electrical contacts ranging from children flying kites into electrical lines, home repairs, lightening strikes and high voltage contacts. Then we looked at those numbers and identified how many of those total injuries were professional workers; those numbers are reflected in chart 1. Chart 2 used the same criteria but show the numbers after a focused effort of education and outreach.
The program has continued to meet with very positive feedback and the requests for new and repeat presentations continue to increase. The main goals for 2001 are to keep the professional electrical injuries down and to expand out our efforts to reach parents and children to reduce the number of pediatric burns.
Please share life-saving information with your community, co-workers, and employers by publicizing the Burn Center Prevention and Education Program.