In Pakistan, 1 person gets burned every 5 minutes, either accidentally or non-accidentally. The consequences that result from burns are serious, including isolation from or even abandonment by the family, social segregation, lack of education and/or skills, and extreme poverty. The long-term consequences and disability place a considerable strain on individuals and their families. The survivor’s family finds pre-injury poverty levels worsen after recovery.
The most effective way to treat a burn is to prevent it from happening. Hashmat Effendi Burn and Plastic Surgery Department at Shalamar Hospital conducted the “Educating the Educators: A Burn Prevention and First Aid” training seminar at Shalamar Institute of Health Sciences on 19 December 2022.
As part of the training, Safety Ambassadors will also receive materials that they can use to conduct sessions in their institute on safety and prevention. This curriculum for the training was designed after carefully researching to identify risk factors with age classification and gender. Additionally, the study was conducted to develop, implement and evaluate interventions aimed at helping children learn, retain, and apply their knowledge of safety measures.
The fire and Burn Prevention curriculum teach lifesaving skills. The program focuses on i) Safety measures to prevent fire and burns from happening, ii) Safety skills to save lives in case a fire or burn happens, and iii) First aid to prevent the severity of accidents. The program aims to benefit children from newborns to 12 years old, as well as parents, expectant parents, and caregivers of all demographics in Pakistan and its neighbouring countries.
