Burn victims after a major disaster: reactions of patients and their care-givers

Abstract

There have been considerable advances in the physical management of burns, and there is a greater awareness of their psychological impact. However, much less attention has been given to the staff who have to deal with burn victims. Disasters are critical incidents which offer a magnified opportunity to appreciate with what care-givers have to cope and how they do so. This paper identifies how complex are the psychological and emotional reactions associated with burn care, and it advocates that more should be done, by means of debriefing, to cater for the needs of staff after critical incidents.