‘Queuing’ for treatment

Press, 16 June 1979, Page 1

‘Queuing’ for treatment

Health reporter Young children suffering from severe burns are being forced to “queue” for treatment at Burwood Hospital’s plastic surgery unit. Marked increases in the number of burn cases has led to a shortage Of specialised equipment. Last week-end three young children were admitted to Ward Five at Burwood. All were suffering from severe bums and would have benefited from the treatment of a special air filter unit. One child was chosen to use the unit. The other two, equally in need of the specialised treatment, had td wait. Nursing staff, and the mother of one of the other young patients, said that it was “agonising” to have to make a decision to exclude two of the children at a time when they needed special help. The laminar air flow unit casts $6OOO. One is installed as part of what will eventually become a four-bed burns unit. Two more air flow units have been sought from Australia, but a shortage of finance has delayed their delivery. The units emit a flow of ultra-clean air around the patient. This allows quick drying of the burnt skin and halves the time a burn takes to heal.

In the last two months more children have been admitted to Ward Five than at any other time over the last four years. At present 14 children aged between II months

and 11 years are being treated. Five were burnt severely when their nightdresses caught fire. Two were admitted with burns from cooking fat, and the remaining seven children suffered burns from kitchen kettles, electric jugs and hot water taps. Most of the children will stay in the hospital for about a month. For most of the five burnt when their nightdresses caught fire, however, the stay will be up to three months, including time for surgery. Reasons for the number of young patients include the increased use of open fires, because of the rising costs of electricity, and the custom of young children wearing nightdresses instead of pyjamas. Authorities say pyjamas are more fitting than nightdresses which are easily drawn by draughts towards fires and heatersDoctors at Burwood believe that one of the worst problems is the wincevette often used for children’s nightdresses. This burns easily, and doctors suggest parents use some treated material. The fabric department of a big Christchurch departmental store sells winceyette for $2.50 a metre. A similar length of treated cloth would retail at about $9 a metre.

Amy McKenzie, daughter of Mr and Mrs R. B. McKenzie, of Fendalton Road, spent her sixth birthday in Ward Five last Sunday.

Amy was burnt when a piece of coal exploded in a fireplace and flew out to catch alight on her nightdress. Her mother said yesterday that the nightdress just went “whoosh” and was a mass of flames in seconds. “I rolled on top of Amy

and got it out but not before she had suffered burns to 20 per cent of her body,” she said. For Amy this has meant a six-week stay in Ward Five and the prospect of at least another two weeks treatment before she is allowed home. Mrs McKenzie said that

it was obvious that many children would recover quicker if there were at least two more laminar air flow units. “In this. ‘The Year of the Child,’ it seems particularly galling that there is a shortage of this essential piece of equipment ” she said.