Managing burn patients in a fire disaster: Experience from a burn unit in Bangladesh

Although burn disaster is not a frequent event, with urbanisation and industrialisation, burn disaster is becoming an emerging problem in Bangladesh. On 3 June 2010, a fire disaster killed 124 people in Neemtali, Dhaka, Bangladesh. This paper narrates the management of burn patients of this disaster in the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital. The burn unit managed 192 burn victims of the disaster. Forty-two victims were admitted and 150 of them received primary care at the emergency room and were sent back home. Ten patients among 42 in-patients died. The in-patient mortality was 23.8%. Burn unit in Dhaka Medical College Hospital is the only burn management centre in Bangladesh. Proper planning and coordinated effort by all sectors and persons concerned were the key elements in this successful management.