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 Two brothers suffered burns 

Two brothers suffered burns

18/07/2008 8:22:00 AM
Two boys, one aged eleven and his older brother aged fourteen from Sandringham, suffered burns to their face and hands on a property near Lake Lonsdale last Friday.

The boys were burnt after the older brother threw an aerosol can into an open fire at about 2.30pm.

Both were transported by a private vehicle to the Stawell hospital where they were treated before a specialist doctor, nurse and paramedic (Paediatric Emergency Transport Services) was flown by air ambulance from the Royal Children's Hospital to transport the boys back to Melbourne.

Despite having received partial thickness burns to their face and hands both boys were described as being in a satisfactory condition.

Ambulance Victoria, Stawell Station Officer, Wayne Rice issued a warning about open fires.

``An open fire can be dangerous at any time as was recently seen when a 49 year old man fell into an open fire on Pipe Line Track near Stawell,'' he said.

``Add to this the throwing of cylinders and closed containers into the fire, even if the person believes that the cylinder or container is empty, it carries the risk of explosion as happened on Friday.

``When an explosion occurs parts of the container may act as lethal projectiles and contents of the container may shower the person or nearby people with hot liquids, burning material and embers causing life threatening injuries or even death.''

Mr Rice said a second mistake made on Friday was the failure to call for an ambulance to the scene as both boys suffered facial burns, which could have involved the airway.

``Burns involving the airway can change into a life threatening situation within minutes. It is most important to call paramedics to the scene as they have the knowledge, skills and equipment to manage life threatening injuries,'' he said.

``Persons suffering burns need to have their airway managed at all times, oxygen supplied, pain management and cooling of the burnt area during transport and may need urgent fluid replacement if the burns area is of a sufficient size and depth.

``By having people transported to hospital in an ambulance the hospital will be given advanced warning of the incoming patient numbers and severity of injury and if needed a specialist doctor and nursing teams can be bought in from Melbourne and appropriate air-medical evacuation can be arranged, sometimes even from the scene of the incident.

``Children need to be warned of the dangers of being around fire and never to throw anything into a fire. The lighting and handling of fires should only be done by responsible adults.''

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