The American Burn Association (ABA) is a member-based organization of professionals dedicated to burn injury treatment, research, education, and prevention.[1] The 2,000+ members of the ABA span multiple disciplines that specialize in burns, including physicians, surgeons, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, firefighters, social workers, researchers, and hospitals with burn centers.[1] Since it was founded in 1967, the ABA has created a variety of programs in an effort to improve the lives of those affected by burn injuries.[2]

American Burn Association
Formation1967
FounderBruce G. MacMillan, Curtis P. Artz, B. W. Hayes, Irving Feller, John A. Boswick Jr.
TypeNonprofit
HeadquartersChicago, Illinois
Current President
Ingrid Parry, MS, PT, BT-C
Websitehttps://www.ameriburn.org

History

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After World War II, interest in burn care grew among medical professionals.[3] This is most likely due to the amount of burn injuries sustained during the war, as well as the growing fear of a nuclear war which could result in an unprecedented amount of burn injuries.[4] In 1959, thirteen surgeons from nine institutions held the first National Burn Seminar at the Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas to discuss case studies, treatment techniques, and specific issues in the field.[3][5] In the following years, further National Burn Seminars were held at different medical centers across the United States and steadily gained more participants.[3] At the Seventh National Burn Seminar in 1966, a committee was appointed to plan a national organization centered on burn care.[3] The organization would be unique in that it would include people from multiple professions (doctors, nurses, allied healthcare professionals) as part of the whole burn care team.[3][6] The day after the eighth National Burn Seminar in 1967, the committee finalized the bylaws for the American Burn Association, and appointed its officers.[3] The first president of the ABA was trauma surgeon and burn specialist Curtis P. Artz.[3][7]

Programs

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Burn center verification

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While there are 129 burn centers in the US, only 71 are verified burn centers, meaning they meet specific criteria set by the ABA and the American College of Surgeons (ACS).[8] In order to become verified, the burn center must go through an extensive process in which the ABA and ACS review the facility's resources, burn team personnel and training, and the center's ability to provide long-term, ongoing care for burn patients.[8]

Education

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The Board of Certification for Emergency Nurses is working with the ABA to develop the Certified Burn Registered Nurse certification, the first burn nursing specialty certification in the world.[9][10] Nurses were to be able to take the exam starting in 2023.[11]

The ABA Advanced Burn Life Support certification is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education.[12] It focuses on emergent and immediate care for burn patients within the first 24-hours of sustaining their injuries and encompasses information relevant to a variety of professions involved in burn care.[13]

Research and publications

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The Journal of Burn Care & Research (JBCR) is the official journal of the ABA, and is currently the only medical journal in the US dedicated exclusively to burn care.[14] It began publication in September 1980 as The Journal of Burn Care & Rehabilitation[15] and obtained its present title in 2006.[16] JCBR has published a series of practice guidelines in an effort to standardize burn care.[17] The original practice guidelines were first published in 2000, and later revised by the ABA's Committee on the Organization and Delivery of Burn Care in 2006.[17] Since, there have been a variety of articles expanding upon the guidelines and contributing to the discourse surrounding practices such as pain management,[18][19] nutrition,[20] managing electrical injuries,[21] preventing and treating necrotizing soft-tissue infections,[22] and the use of orthoses.[23]

The American Burn Research Network (ABuRN) facilitates research and clinical trials affiliated with the ABA.[24]

The ABA's Burn Care Quality Platform is a dataset of burn research that is provided voluntarily by burn centers each year.[25] Access to the dataset is available to researchers, advocacy groups, and clinicians upon request.[25][26]

Prevention and advocacy

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The first full week of February is National Burn Awareness Week.[27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Who We Are – American Burn Association". Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  2. ^ ABA Bylaws (PDF), 2020-01-13
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Dimick, Alan (1979-07-01). "1978 Presidential Address: American Burn Association" (PDF). Journal of Trauma. 19 (7): 520–525. doi:10.1097/00005373-197907000-00007. PMID 379356.
  4. ^ Alexander, J. Wesley (1986-01-01). "Burn Care: A Specialty in Evolution—1985 Presidential Address, American Burn Association". Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. 26 (1): 1–6. doi:10.1097/00005373-198601000-00001. ISSN 2163-0755. PMID 3510301.
  5. ^ Feldman, Michael J. (2018-02-20). "A Review of the First Seminar That Set the Stage for the Creation of the American Burn Association". Journal of Burn Care & Research. 39 (2): 183–187. doi:10.1097/BCR.0000000000000583 (inactive 1 November 2024). ISSN 1559-0488. PMID 29538774.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  6. ^ Artz, Curtis P. (1973-12-01). "The American Burn Association: An Organization for the Entire Health Care Team". Surgical Clinics of North America. Trauma. 53 (6): 1327–1334. doi:10.1016/S0039-6109(16)40181-7. ISSN 0039-6109. PMID 4586470.
  7. ^ "Curtis P Artz MUSC Surgical Society". medicine.musc.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  8. ^ a b "American Burn Association Find a Burn Center". ameriburn.org. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  9. ^ Driggers, Briauna. "New Burn Specialty Nursing Certification Coming Soon". BCEN. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  10. ^ "Burn Nursing Certification Under Development". American Burn Association. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  11. ^ BCEN (2022-07-12). "Burn Certification (CBRN) Update – July 2022". BCEN. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  12. ^ "Continuing Education – American Burn Association". Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  13. ^ "Advanced Burn Life Support (ABLS) – American Burn Association". Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  14. ^ ""About the Journal"". Archived from the original on 30 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
  15. ^ Gordon, Mary; Marvin, Janet (September 1980). "Burn Care Update". Journal of Burn Care & Rehabilitation. 1 (1): 40. doi:10.1097/00004630-198009000-00006.
  16. ^ Gamelli, Richard L. (January 2006). "Comments from the New Editor-in-Chief". Journal of Burn Care & Research. 27 (1): 119. doi:10.1097/01.bcr.0000197277.45642.69.
  17. ^ a b Gibran, Nicole S. (2006-07-01). "Practice Guidelines for Burn Care, 2006". Journal of Burn Care & Research. 27 (4): 437–438. doi:10.1097/01.BCR.0000226084.26680.56. ISSN 1559-047X. PMID 16819344.
  18. ^ Faucher, Lee; Furukawa, Kenneth (2006-09-01). "Practice Guidelines for the Management of Pain". Journal of Burn Care & Research. 27 (5): 659–668. doi:10.1097/01.BCR.0000238117.41490.00. ISSN 1559-047X. PMID 16998398.
  19. ^ Romanowski, Kathleen S; Carson, Joshua S; Pape, Kate; Bernal, Eileen; Wiechman, Shelley A; Carter, Damien W; Nitzschke, Stephanie; Bhalla, Paul I; Litt, Jeffrey; Friedman, Bruce; Jeng, James C (2020-03-03). "125 Management of Acute Pain in the Burn Patient: Reaching a New Guideline". Journal of Burn Care & Research. 41 (Supplement_1): S84–S85. doi:10.1093/jbcr/iraa024.128. ISSN 1559-047X.
  20. ^ Mosier, Michael J.; Pham, Tam N.; Klein, Matthew B.; Gibran, Nicole S.; Arnoldo, Brett D.; Gamelli, Richard L.; Tompkins, Ronald G.; Herndon, David N. (2011-01-01). "Early Enteral Nutrition in Burns: Compliance With Guidelines and Associated Outcomes in a Multicenter Study". Journal of Burn Care & Research. 32 (1): 104–109. doi:10.1097/BCR.0b013e318204b3be. ISSN 1559-047X. PMC 3850279. PMID 21116188.
  21. ^ Arnoldo, Brett; Klein, Matthew; Gibran, Nicole S. (2006-07-01). "Practice Guidelines for the Management of Electrical Injuries". Journal of Burn Care & Research. 27 (4): 439–447. doi:10.1097/01.BCR.0000226250.26567.4C. ISSN 1559-047X. PMID 16819345.
  22. ^ Endorf, Frederick W.; Cancio, Leopoldo C.; Klein, Matthew B. (2009-09-01). "Necrotizing Soft-Tissue Infections: Clinical Guidelines". Journal of Burn Care & Research. 30 (5): 769–775. doi:10.1097/BCR.0b013e3181b48321. ISSN 1559-047X. PMID 19692912.
  23. ^ Parry, Ingrid S; Schneider, Jeffrey C; Yelvington, Miranda; Sharp, Patricia; Serghiou, Michael; Ryan, Colleen M; Richardson, Elizabeth; Pontius, Kara; Niszczak, Jonathan; McMahon, Margaret; MacDonald, Lori E (2020-05-02). "Systematic Review and Expert Consensus on the Use of Orthoses (Splints and Casts) with Adults and Children after Burn Injury to Determine Practice Guidelines". Journal of Burn Care & Research. 41 (3): 503–534. doi:10.1093/jbcr/irz150. ISSN 1559-047X. PMID 31504622.
  24. ^ "ABuRN – American Burn Association". Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  25. ^ a b "Burn Research Dataset – American Burn Association". Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  26. ^ Gus, Eduardo; Brooks, Stephanie; Multani, Iqbal; Zhu, Jane; Zuccaro, Jennifer; Singer, Yvonne (2022-06-06). "Burn Registries State of Affairs: A Scoping review". Journal of Burn Care & Research. 43 (5): 1002–1014. doi:10.1093/jbcr/irac077. ISSN 1559-0488. PMID 35766390.
  27. ^ "NFPA - Burn awareness". www.nfpa.org. Retrieved 2022-07-13.