Any Tennessee resident who has suffered from a burn injury understands how painful these types of injuries can be. In many cases, these burn injuries can be quite severe and require ongoing intensive care and skin grafting. And in some, regardless of how hard doctors and medical staff work, the scars are still there and can be life-altering.
The American Burn Association recently released burn injury statistics for 2012. The numbers were compiled from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Vital Statistics, the National Burn Repository of the American Burn Association and some ongoing national surveys.
Below is a brief rundown of some of the statistics:
- There were approximately 450,000 burn injuries in the U.S. receiving medical treatment.
- Roughly 3,400 people were killed due to burns and fires.
- In total, 40,000 people were hospitalized due to burn injuries. Of these, 30,000 patients were treated in hospital burn centers.
In looking at this overview, it should be noted that deaths caused by fires and burns were combined due to the fact that it is often hard to tell if a death is caused by toxic smoke or by the actual burns. These burn injuries and deaths also took place in a number of different settings, including inside residential homes and on the job.
In terms of those burn injuries requiring admittance into a burn center for treatment, according to the American Burn Association National Burn Repository, between 2002 and 2011, close to 70 percent of those admitted were men. Of those admitted, 96.1 percent ended up surviving.
In the end, when talking about burn injuries, understand there may be some cases where these injuries could have been prevented. In cases where a third party is to blame, this could end up leading to a lawsuit. This will in no way take away from the damage that was already done, but the lawsuit could lead to much needed compensation.