Burns And Scalds in Primary Care course for GPs

This session considers the assessment and management of burns and scalds in primary care.

This session was reviewed by Khyati Bakhai and last updated in January 2022.

Learning objectives

By the end of this session you will be able to:

• assess the severity of burns
• organise burns by classification and recognise those that need to be referred to secondary care
• give first aid to a burns victim
• recognise which dressings are commonly used for burns
• develop plans for the follow-up of patients with serious burns

There are a number of sources of burns including dry heat (e.g. fire), wet heat (e.g. steam), radiation, friction, hot objects, electricity, or chemicals.