UC Irvine launches program to prevent burn injuries in the home
May 22, 2012
UC Irvine Regional Burn Center will begin distributing customized home fire safety kits to patients the center treats, thanks to a $16,075 grant from SullivanCurtisMonroe Insurance Services in Irvine and Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company.
The grant will fund the center’s new Burn Prevention To-Go program – 175 kits that include smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers, scald prevention water temperature monitors, and electrical outlet and stove knob covers.
“Many of the burn injuries we treat are preventable, and many of our patients do not have these basic home safety items,” said Dr. Nicole Bernal, acting director of UC Irvine Regional Burn Center. “This grant will help us to ensure our patients and their families in the community are protected from future injuries.”
The overwhelming majority of burns in children are scalds that occur at bath time, she said.
More than 450,000 people in the U.S. are treated for burn injuries each year and a majority of those burns occur in the home, according to the American Burn Association.
“Burns are some of the most painful and disfiguring injuries a person can have,” said Jeannine Coronado of SullivanCurtisMonroe. “If this money successfully gets the burn safety message across to just one person, it’s worth it.”
UC Irvine Regional Burn Center at the UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange is Orange County’s only American College of Surgeons-certified burn unit and annually treats more than half of the county’s burn victims. UC Irvine has led the nation in burn care with advanced surgical techniques, innovations in synthetic skin treatments and expert patient care. Each year, more than 600 patients are treated for burns of all kinds – and one-third of these patients are children.
The grant is part of a nationwide philanthropic program funded by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, providing needed equipment, training and educational tools to local fire department and burn prevention organizations. Since 2004, Fireman’s Fund has issued grants to more than 1,800 different organizations totaling more than $29 million. Independent insurance agencies and brokers that sell Fireman’s Fund products, like SCM, are able to direct these grants to support their communities.
SCM has distributed grants worth more than $200,000 in Southern California since 2004.
