Addressing Bath Scalds in the Under Fives

1. Addressing Bath Scalds in the Under Fives

2. What is a Scald? A scald is a burn injury caused by hot liquids • Water • Tea/coffee • Cooking oil • Hot food/soup • Vapour/steam

3. The type of scald which has the highest incidence of death or severe injury is caused by hot bath water

4. Who Is At Risk? • Very young • Elderly • Due to slower reactions and thinner skin • Sustain scalds more quickly at lower temperatures and often with a greater depth of burn

5. Why Young Children? • Learn by experimenting • Unaware of what will hurt them • Dependent on others to keep them safe • Economic factors – children from lower socio economic groups are 50% more likely to experience burns and scalds than higher socio economic groups

6. How? Based on data from DTI burns and scalds accidents in the home. Government Consumer Safety Research 1999

7. Antrim Area Hospital A&E Attendances due to Scald Injuries

8. Degree of Scald Depends on: • Temperature and volume of hot water • Length of time body is exposed to it • Can only take seconds for a severe scald to occur

9. First Degree Burn • A 1st Degree Burn – superficial sunburn where there is no blistering • A 2nd Degree Burn – a burn with blisters and with proper treatment may go on to heal without a skin graft

10. Severity Can Be Expressed As: • A 3rd Degree Burn – entire thickness of the skin destroyed. Wound surgically removed and area covered with a skin graft

11. Impact Severe scalds can cause: • Long term disability • Disfigurement • Distress and pain • Psychological trauma • Emotional difficulties • Prolonged hospital treatment

12. What Temperature? How Long? Adult exposure time for partial thickness burns. Information source DTI Research Document Burns and Scalds in the Home 1999

13. Preventing Bath Water Scalds • Bath water scalds lend themselves to prevention because the risk of a tap water scald injury is virtually eliminated when hot water is supplied at a safe temperature

14. What is a Thermostatic Mixing Valve (TMV)? • Mixes hot water from boiler/water heater with cold water – delivered through hot tap at a preset temperature • The mechanism automatically compensates for any variations in the pressure or temperature of the water supply to maintain a safe temperature

15. Accident Prevention Is Everyone’s Business Health Promotion RoSPA Ballysally Coleraine Borough Strategic Partnership Surestart NI Housing Executive NNHAZ Health Visiting

16. Steering Group Identified: Who do we target, why and how? How can we deliver the scheme? How do we evaluate the scheme?

17. What We Did • Identified what needed to be done and which organisation/group were best placed to deliver it • Health Visiting/ Health Promotion – co-ordinated/purchased TMVs • Surestart – identified families/made contact • Coleraine Strategic Partnership – informed residents of scheme

18. What We Did • NNHAZ– funded awareness raising session • RoSPA – delivered awareness raising session to local community/families • Health Visitors – advised and referred families to scheme • NIHE – fitted and will maintain TMVs

19. How Are We Progressing • To date 15 Thermostatic Mixing Valves have been fitted

20. What Have We Learned • Partnership working • Community support • Continued promotion • Monitor and review • Awareness raising sessions • Evaluation • New ways of working

21. Prevention is better than treatment