How to Treat Second & Third-Degree Burns

Video Transcript

"You know at some point in life all of us will incur some type of burn injury. Hi, I'm Captain Joe Bruni and what I'm going to discuss is how to treat the second and third degree burn injury. Second degree involves a blistering of the skin. Third degree involves charring or blackening of the skin. With either type of burn injury, second or third degree, the first thing is to cool the burn injury with some type of clean cotton or other type synthetic material soaked in water that can be placed over the burn injury site, and cool the area down to help reduce pain and swelling. After about ten to fifteen minutes of reducing pain and swelling through the cooling method, some type of sterile dressing should be applied to the burn area. If a sterile dressing is not readily available from a first aid kit, some type of clean cloth material should be used over the burn site injury. The sterile dressing is always the best option to place over the burn injury and then tape that clean dressing down and then wrap with some type of gauze material to help keep the area as clean as possible. Burn injuries are never a fun experience to have, but with the proper steps and actions, the chances of infection can be greatly reduced. Also, with second and third degree burn injuries of significant size, the person should be taken to the local emergency department for medical, further medical treatment. I'm Captain Joe Bruni, stay safe and we'll see you next time."