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Katie Woolf spoke with RDH Burns Coordinator Margaret Brennan · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Waste on properties. Now joining us on the line to
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: tell us a little bit more about what we need
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: to be aware of and really how to treat burns.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: It is the manager of the Burns Ward at Royal
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Darwin Hospital, Margaret Brennan. Good morning to you, Margaret, morning Katie.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: How are you? Yeah, not too bad?
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for your time today. That's a worry
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: to hear that there has been a spike in excelerant
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: related flame injuries. Why do you reckon that is?
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Look, I think I think we had was listening to
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: a little bit of radio this morning when I was
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: in dealing with a patient. I heard your conversations with
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: convatscallus and look, we I think we have had a
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: very good wet season and at leaves everything leaving quite wet. So,
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: particularly in the real area where people have got a
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: lot of vegetation happening, they tend to use where all
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: of that humidity is sitting. They tend to use a
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: lot of fuels and accelerants to light up their eyes
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: when cleaning up properties, right, and.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: So then obviously are we unfortunately sometimes end up in
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  Speaker 1: a situation where people are then injured and burnt while
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: using that accelerant. Does it make it quite luck? Does
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: it make those burns quite a bit worse? Margaret, when
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: there is that accelerant used.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Yes, it is now often often people will use some
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: kind of petrol or petrol mix to light things up,
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: and certainly having an accelerant on the skin at the
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: time and coupled with a flame, we have what's called
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: high octane. So they burn very fast and very hot. Wow.
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  Speaker 2: So we often find that those burns when they present,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: you know, twenty plus years of experience from my perspective,
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  Speaker 2: I will always be cautious about those burns. I know
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  Speaker 2: they're going to be deep. They're invariably very very deep,
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: and more often than not, I'd say over eighty five
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: percent of them will end up with a graft.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Margaret, What is the what is the best way if
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: we find ourselves in a situation where we are burnt,
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  Speaker 1: you know, on our property, at our home, what's the
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: best way initially for us to try to deal with that?
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: Sure, so, Katie, we have of this home all the time.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: But the absolute gold standard best thing you can possibly
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: do is run some cool running water over that burn.
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  Speaker 2: Sometimes the water coming out of our garden hose is
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: not necessarily cool. Find the coolest source of water that
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: you can run that hose for a little while. Twenty
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  Speaker 2: minutes sitting under some cool running water is absolutely the
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: best way to try and treat that burn, and we
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: have seen it time and time again. It is the
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: difference between possibly ending up with a split skin graft
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: and some extended time in hospital and rehabilitation some life changes,
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: as opposed to maybe not needing all of that. Wow,
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  Speaker 2: twenty minutes of cool running order. If you don't have
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: a source of cool running water, find one, because that
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: first date is still going to be effective up to
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: three hours after the burn.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Wow, goodness. May you know I wouldn't have realized that
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: it actually makes that bigger difference actually doing that.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, now what the research done on that? And
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  Speaker 2: most of the research has come out of Australia and
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: in fact out of Queensland.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: Goodness mate, you so twenty Have you worked in that
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: area of burn's specialty for around twenty years, have you, Margaret?
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah? Since the Balley bombings. Yeah wow, first Barley bombing.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: So I have been a part of many mass casualty responses.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: Goodness, may you must have seen some you know, some
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  Speaker 1: really interesting stuff, some pretty frightening stuff in that time.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: But it must be such a rewarding career as well.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Certainly have I think I have a bit of a
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: passion for skin. YEP, It's one of our biggest organ
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: and it's regenerative provided we give it the right treatment.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and it must be a real.
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  Speaker 2: How of that first date. Like I said, this is
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  Speaker 2: actually quite exciting because I've had enough years to really
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  Speaker 2: see the difference between administering just pretty simply some cool
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: running water as opposed to not.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and has that, Like has the way in which
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: we deal with burns over the years, and certainly since
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: since you've been in your role, has it? Has it
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  Speaker 1: evolved quite substantially?
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  Speaker 2: Do you know? That's one thing? Certainly our treatment of
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: burns has evolved. I always say that I've been looking
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  Speaker 2: after burns since since, you know, since time began, and
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  Speaker 2: it certainly our dressings have changed massively and the way
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  Speaker 2: we treat burn scars all of that. You know, I
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: think a lot of people think that historically that that
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  Speaker 2: people end up with some horrible, horrible scars, and sometimes
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  Speaker 2: they do, that's unavoidable. But but our dressings have changed
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: the way we you know, the way we treat burns
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  Speaker 2: these days is has changed dramatically. That first day message
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  Speaker 2: has not changed certainly in the last ten to fifteen years.
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  Speaker 2: It's been very, very consistent in its messaging and it's
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: in its approach. So you know, if you don't have
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  Speaker 2: core running water, the best thing I hear lots of
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: stories as you can imagine, I dived in the pool, fantastic,
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  Speaker 2: or I dived in the nearest billabong. As long as
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: it doesn't have a crocodile in it, cool that burn
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: as best you possibly can. I prefer not sea water
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: because it has a lot of bugs in it, but
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: we can deal with the bugs later. It's finding some
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  Speaker 2: core running water to reduce the depth of that burn.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll tell you what. I'm really fascinated, you know,
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  Speaker 1: by what you've told us this morning, Margaret, But I'm
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  Speaker 1: really fascinated by your story as well. I've got you know,
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  Speaker 1: I've got a lot of respect for our nursing stuff
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: and the wonderful work that you guys do. Then when
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  Speaker 1: you talk about burns and the incredible work that you've
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: been involved in over the last twenty years, I reckon
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  Speaker 1: it's amazing.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you baby. It is a passion and yeah, I
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  Speaker 2: love what I do.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah O Will Nurse manager of the Burns Ward, Margaret Brennan,
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  Speaker 1: we really appreciate your time this morning and appreciate you
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: having a chat with us about this. I mean, it
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: is a concern obviously to see that there has been
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: an increase in burn's injuries from the dry season burnoffs
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: on those rural properties. So I do hope that everybody
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: out there listening if they are doing any of that
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: kind of burning. I don't even know if it's still
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: allowed at this time of the year, but do make
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: sure that you know that first aid and what you
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: need to do if you do suffer from a burn.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and we're always here. Give us a call if
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: you don't know what to do, call Triple zero.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well call us.
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  Speaker 2: We're here Monday to Friday.
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  Speaker 1: Oh Margaret, good on you. Thanks so much for your
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: time this morning.