Burn prevention knowledge and education in the emergency department.

Unintentional injuries are the number one cause of death in children with burns and scalds being the most common. The objective of this study was to determine parents' baseline burn prevention knowledge and whether the emergency department might be an effective setting to provide burn prevention educational materials. This study was a convenience sample of parents at the Vanderbilt Pediatric Emergency Department. Parents filled out a pre-survey consisting of demographic and burn-related questions. They were then given an informational handout with 5 illustrated messages about how to prevent burn injuries related to smoke alarms, temperature of water heaters, locking dangerous items, electrical outlets, and cooking safety. No discussion about these messages was conducted. Post-surveys were performed by telephone 7-10 days later. The 15 question post-survey assessed parents' recall of information listed in the handout, if parents had made any changes based on the handout, and if they felt they had learned anything from the experience. Study protocol had been approved by the hospital's IRB. One hundred thirty-seven parents participated; the telephone response rate was 64%. For baseline burn prevention knowledge, 29% knew to change smoke alarm batteries yearly, 54% knew to set water heater <120 degrees and 45% knew to lock dangerous items; 71% felt as though they learned something from the handout; 85% would want to receive more information about injury prevention in the ED. The area that seemed to have most impact was cooking safety. Pre-survey, 41 (47.1%) parents knew to place pots on the back burners of the stove; post-survey, 66 (75.9%) knew this (P < 0.05). Baseline burn prevention knowledge is inadequate. Distribution of illustrated educational handouts improved cooking safety practices but not other practices. The majority felt they learned from the materials and would benefit from prevention information.

Stephanie Horn, MD, Sally A. Santen, MD, Robin R. Hemphill, MD, Claire A. Turchi, MSII, and Bonnie Bargmeyer, MSIII. Vanderbilt University, Department of Emergency Medicine, Nashville, TN.