We talk about burns a lot at Mini First Aid for very good reason – a burn injury is not a bruise or a scrape which will heal and be forgotten. A burn injury causes lifelong, painful scars, both physically and emotionally - for the burns victim as well as their whole family. If your child is badly burned, they and you will live with the pain and trauma for the rest of your life. Today is National Burn Awareness Day and we are proud to be working with the Children’s Burns Trust to prevent families having to go through the anguish a severe burn causes.

How many children are burned or scalded in the UK each year?

The statistics are really shocking – 8115 children were burned or scalded in 2023. And wait for it – these are ONLY the more serious injuries that end up being treated via an NHS Burns Service. These figures don’t include those children only admitted to A&E. So that is over 8000 lives changing forever in the space of one year, never mind the 1000’s of other families whose children will have suffered an incredibly painful and scarring experience.

What is the difference between a burn and a scald?

A burn is caused by dry heat, for example by hair straighteners or a hot pan handle. A scald is caused by wet heat, such as a hot drink or hot water bottle leak. The crucial thing though is that treatment is exactly the same for both.

What are the top causes of burns and scalds that I need to be aware of as a parent?

Hot drinks

30 babies and toddlers go to hospital with a hot drink scald EVERY SINGLE DAY in the UK. Parents who experience this say they never thought it would happen to them. It is easy to feel immune, that somehow this will never touch our lives, until it does. And that is why it is so important to be aware (see Alaya’s story below).

We know that 60% of all children attending A&E with a burn injury is because of a hot drink.

Hot water bottles

The cost of living crisis has sadly led to a frightening 40% increase in hot water bottle scalds between 2022 and 2023, as more people use them as a cheaper way to stay warm. The rubber in hot water bottles can deteriorate over time, allowing scalding hot water to burst or leak out.

Saucepan and kettle spills

642 children needed treatment in an NHS Burns Service due to hob related injuries in 2023 (see below for our hobguard competition).

And a further 446 children needed treatment for a kettle spill.

Hot water scald in the bath

Surprisingly common, and very dangerous as almost the whole body is affected. Whilst you most likely always test the water before your child gets in, what if they try and get in when you’re not ready? It only takes one second to get a very serious burn in hot water.

How can I stop my child getting seriously burned?

·       Place hot drinks well out of reach of little hands. Push them right to the back of a kitchen surface (same with your kettle and its cord) and never put them on a surface where a cloth hangs down that a small child could pull

·       Never carry a hot drink whilst carrying a baby

·       Never pass a hot drink over the heads of young children

·       Use the back burners on your hob and push handles in

·       Run cold water into the bath first, then hot

·       Check your hot water bottles regularly for signs of wear and tear

·       Don’t leave a baby or young child with a hot water bottle – instead use them to warm their bed before they get in

·       Do not use a hot water bottle that is more than 2 years old, you can use the flower symbol to help with this:

Look at this flower symbol. The number in the middle shows the year the bottle was made. The segments represent months of the year, and the dots inside represent the number of weeks. So in this example, the hot water bottle was made in the third week of April 2021 and is now more than 3 years old. Time to buy a new one!

Little Alayla's real life story 

“On 15^th  of August 2023, we celebrated our daughter’s first birthday. Little did we know that the next day would be the most horrific day of our lives.”

Alayla’s mum Simona has spoken to the Children’s Burns Trust about her little girl’s horrendous burns. She hopes that by doing so it will prevent another family going through such a terrible experience. It is rare for families to speak with such honesty about a burns injury, out of a misplaced sense of shame, so we are especially grateful for Simona’s candour.

"Alayla woke up as usual at 7:30am and we went to make breakfast. I made Alayla’s porridge, put bread in the toaster, and made myself a cup of coffee. I normally have an iced coffee, but on that day I had ran out of milk, so I used a sachet to make myself a caramel hot coffee instead.

I placed these in the middle of the counter and gave Alayla some wooden spoons to play on the floor with while I walked 10 steps to turn on the TV, which is in the same room.

As I was turning on the TV, I heard a loud bang and the most horrific scream. I turned around and saw Alayla on the floor. I ran back to her and saw that the coffee had fallen on top of her. Without panic or hesitation, I removed all her clothes, including her nappy, ran to the shower located downstairs, put the shower on cold, and held her under the water as I was screaming for help, for my husband to wake up.

My husband woke up to the sound of my screams and Alayla crying. I told him we needed to go to the hospital now.

When we got to the hospital, there was traffic, so I ran with Alayla across the street into the hospital and into the children’s department. Alayla was still in pain and screaming.

They gave her some pain relief, and the doctors examined her. They peeled off her skin, and then another doctor came to examine her eyes, which was extremely distressing as Alayla was in pain and screaming.

They took pictures to send to the Specialist Burns Unit in Chelmsford. After an hour, we received a reply that Chelmsford would like to see her due to the burns being on her face.

As soon as we got to the burns unit the staff saw Alayla immediately and looked after her with such care and responsibility.

The first thing they did was shave her hair. This was a shock to me as it turns out that the majority of her burns were actually on top of her head. After her hair was shaved off, the burns were washed, all the loose skin was removed and then she had bandages put over the burns.

Unfortuantely, one of her eyes had completely shut due to the swelling and she was only able to see through her right eye.

By the next day, both eyes were fully closed and they were so swollen that she was unable to see. Her wound was also oozing yellow liquid. The only thing that we could see was a little square in her face as everything else was covered in bandages. Her eyes were totally closed, and she could not see a single thing."

“This is the scariest thing that I’ve ever had to go through as my baby was not able to see me, and I was not able to see her beautiful eyes.”

"The nurses gave us musical toys, and we did a lot of sensory activities, making sure we were always holding her, cuddling her, making sure that she could always feel us, so she wasn’t alone.

A therapy dog came to see all of the children. Although Alayla couldn’t see, she knew that the dog was there and was very excited. They gave us some dog treats so that she could feed the dog, and this honestly lifted her spirits so much. She even managed to see through a tiny gap in the swelling.

Things got worse from there though – Alayla’s eyes were still so swollen and the tiny gap had closed.  All she did was lay in bed and sleep. We weren’t sure when she was awake, when she was napping, when she was tired, and she couldn’t communicate with us, and she was very scared as she could not see a single thing.

Thankfully by the next day she managed to open both of her eyes halfway, and although her vision was not 100%, I could see her again and she could see me. It was the most heartwarming feeling being able to see her eyes again. She would come very close to my face to make out that it was me and her dad.

Her bandages were changed, and when this was done, the progress looked amazing; however, she spiked a temperature, and it was confirmed that she had an infection. She had to be given antibiotics and was put on a drip to help with her fluid intake. It was 2 more days until we could take our little girl home, after 7 nights stay in hospital. And this wasn’t the end, with numerous follow up appointments – we were finally discharged from the care of the amazing nurses and doctors who helped Alayla 3 months after the initial burn."

“Although Alayla is small and won’t remember, as parents we will always remember the horrific screams, and having to hold her still to have her face burns washed – this will always stay with us and it’s something that I don’t want another parent to experience.”

What do I do if my child is burned or scalded?

The most important thing is cooling the burn:

Cool the burn with cool running tap water for 20 minutes and remove all clothing (including nappies) and jewellery around the burn (unless it is melted or firmly stuck to the wound). For a large area of burn, it may be more appropriate to use the shower to cool the wound.

Call 999 or 111 for advice for any burn larger than a 50p coin – making sure you are continuing to cool whilst on the call.

After 20 minutes, cover the burn with cling film or a clean non-fluffy dressing or cloth, this will help prevent infection.

Make sure the rest of the patient’s body is kept warm whilst cooling the affected area.

Thank you for reading this really important blog. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking “it won’t happen to my child” - we are all only a bit of bad luck away from what happened to little Alayla.

Stay safe everyone, all the best, Mini First Aid x

Sources: Children’s Burns Trust