A burn happens when heat energy, chemicals, electricity, radiation, or friction damages skin and body tissue. Quick, calm action can reduce pain, limit injury, and help prevent infection. The most important first step for a minor thermal burn is to cool it under cool running water for 20 minutes.
Knowing what to do before an emergency helps students stay safe at home, in the lab, and outdoors.
Key Facts
- For a minor thermal burn, cool the area under cool running water for 20 minutes.
- Heat flows from warmer objects to cooler objects by conduction, convection, or radiation.
- Do not use ice on a burn because extreme cold can damage tissue and slow healing.
- Remove jewelry or tight clothing near the burn before swelling begins, but do not pull off anything stuck to the skin.
- Cover a cooled burn with a clean, dry, nonstick dressing or cloth to reduce infection risk.
- Seek emergency help for burns that are large, deep, on the face or joints, caused by chemicals or electricity, or if the person has trouble breathing.
Vocabulary
- Burn
- A burn is an injury to skin or tissue caused by heat, chemicals, electricity, radiation, or friction.
- Thermal energy
- Thermal energy is the internal energy of matter related to the motion of its particles and is often felt as heat.
- Conduction
- Conduction is heat transfer through direct contact, such as a hot pan transferring energy to skin.
- Convection
- Convection is heat transfer by the movement of a fluid, such as running water carrying heat away from a burn.
- First aid
- First aid is immediate care given to an injured or ill person before professional medical help is available.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using ice on a burn is wrong because extreme cold can injure skin further and reduce blood flow needed for healing.
- Putting butter, oil, toothpaste, or creams on a fresh burn is wrong because they can trap heat and increase infection risk.
- Cooling the burn for only a minute or two is wrong because heat can remain in tissue and continue causing damage without enough cooling time.
- Popping blisters is wrong because blisters protect the injured skin underneath and breaking them can let germs enter.
Practice Questions
- 1 A student starts cooling a minor burn at 3:12 p.m. for the recommended 20 minutes. What time should they stop cooling it?
- 2 A faucet runs at 1.5 liters per minute. How many liters of cool water flow over a burn during 20 minutes of cooling?
- 3 Explain why cool running water helps a minor thermal burn better than a still bowl of water, using the idea of heat transfer.