Each year more than 15,000 people are seriously burned when their clothes catch on fire. In more than half of the incidents, flammable liquids or vapors were present on or around the person’s clothing. But it can happen in many ways. A person’s loose sleeve may catch on fire on a hot stove. Someone may be working with gasoline or some other flammable liquid and then light a cigarette. They might spray lighter fluid on a smoldering barbeque fire and the resulting flames could catch their clothes on fire. When a person’s clothing catches on fire, action must instinctive and immediate. There is not time to think. The one thing you should never do is run.

To minimize a burn injury when your clothes catch fire, STOP, DROP and ROLL. Burns are among the most painful of injuries and the third leading cause of unintentional death in the United States. The hands, groin, face and lungs are at particular risk because the are delicates structures and easily injured. The healing process is slow and painful, resulting in enormous personal suffering.

Basic Burn Care/First Aid Burn Treatment

The important thing to remember when dealing with burn injuries is that you should never underestimate the seriousness of a burn. You should seek medical help if any doubt exist with regard to the seriousness of a burn.

        First Aid Burn Treatment

1. Cool the burn immediately with cool water to reduce the skin temperature and stop the burning process, numb the pain and prevent or reduce swelling. Do not use ice on burns as it may decrease the blood supply to the area and may actually make the burn worse.
2. Remove burned clothing, metal from belt buckles, etc as these things can continue to burn if they retain heat. Disposable diapers will especially retain heat. Loosen or remove tight clothing, jewelry, or boots before swelling occurs. If burn is over 30% of the total body surface area you may have swelling in an area remote from the burn due to fluid shifts, so remove everything that might constrict.
3. After cooling the burn with water, cover the burn with a clean dressing to the burn area. If you don’t have a dressing, cover the burn with a clean t-shirt (never a towel as the fiber can stick in the wound and be painful to remove). People are usually more comfortable if exposed nerve endings are covered, and also it is important to keep the burn victim warm.
4. For serious burns don’t give anything to the victim to eat or drink prior to seeking medical attention. 
5. Elevate burns to the extremities to reduce swelling. 

   GET MEDICAL HELP! Never underestimate the seriousness of a burn!

For a person who is burnt around the head there is a danger of an airway injury, as such they must be brought to the hospital immediately if there are singed nasal hairs, burned face, or burns around the mouth. In this case always keep the head elevated.

The harsh vibrating sound heard during respiration in cases of obstruction of the air passages, also known as “stridor” is a potenially fatal sign related with burn victims.

Certain types of clothing are less flammable and resist flames more than other types of clothing. Heavier clothing and fabrics with a tight knit weave burn more slowly compared to loose knit clothing. Fabrics with a loose fit or fluffy pile will ignite more readily than tight-fitting, dense fabric clothing. Synthetic fibers, such as nylon, once ignited, melt and burn causing severe burns. Natural fibers, such as cotton and wool, tend to burn more slowly than sythnetic fibers. However, fibers that combine both synthetic and natural fibesr may be of greater hazard than either fabric alone. Curtains and draperies can be sprayed with flame retardants to reduce their rate of burning. Howerver, these chemicals should not be applied to clothing.

The principles of STOP, DROP and ROLL are simple:

STOP, do not run, if your clothes catch on fire.
DROP to the floor in a prone (face down) position.
Cover your face with your hands to protect it from the flames.
ROLL over and over to smother the fire. Don’t stop until the flames have been extinguished.
If you are near someone whose clothing catches on fire, be sure to stop them from running and make them STOP, DROP and ROLL.

Sparky courtesy of NFPA.