Extensive burn question

[esunada]

I am student and I am curious: If someone has an extensive chemical burn greater than 15% or much more, and you use tap water to wash out the chemical, is there a good possibility of hypothermia? I'm assuming at that point it's more important to get rid of the chemical, but I was wondering how that worked. If it was a thermal burn, would you still use water if it was extensive?

[dthfytr, ADN, LPN, RN, EMT-B, EMT-I]

The burn process continues to damage deeper tissue after the initial insult. As long as you know you're using the correct agent, always cool the burn profusely to stop the injury process. Hypothermia, pain, etc are treated only after the injury process is stopped, unless for some reason it's not possible to stop the injury process (unlikely). Volumes can be written on the subject, but I believe this answers your question, it's a matter of priorities.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

In the presence of CHEMICAL burns....the big question is what was the burning agent and is there a neutralizing agent. Some chemicals are accelerated by water some are not. NOt all chemicals are diluted by water. Some chemicals must be neutralized by another chemical like calcium gel. Thermal burns is attempting to maintain normalthermia as there is tremendous heat loss with the greater surface area affected...........as well as hydration.

here is a link:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20557012/NCP-Burns :)