Burnt Child’s Care at Home after Treatment

 Written by: Muhammad Arif Rahimi

According to the information provided by the Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital’s authorities, Kabul city about 1000 children are taken to the mentioned hospital for treatment every year who have a third-degree burn. When they are discharged from the hospital after treatment and their families do not take care of their burns, these children might face more problems. AEPO’s writer/producer has talked to some people about this issue.

Firoza, a resident of Kabul city says, “My baby was burnt and I took him to the hospital. The doctor dressed his wounds and advised some medicines. When we took back home, and due scratching, his wounds swollen and we took back him to the hospital.”

Gulalai Samandari, a resident of Laghman province says, “I am the mother of 7 children. One of my daughters burnt last year and I took her to the hospital and they treated her. When we took her back home. We did not take care of her wounds and now she is not able to use his hands properly and black scars of burning formed on her hands’ back.”

Doctor Habiburrahman Qasim, burn specialist surgeon at Indira Gandhi Children’s hospital says, “If we do not take care of any kind of child burn at home after treatment, the wounds might not be healed soon and they might expand and swollen and if it is a third-degree burn, it might cause death or permanent disability of the child.”

What do people think about this issue?

Sanaullah Popalzai says, “Some people do not care about child burn and the wound gets infected.”

A man says, “I think itching the burning surface causes the burn to be infected.”

Doctor Qasim says, “When we discharge a burnt child from the hospital, we recommend the attendant of the patient how to take care of the patient after treatment. We recommend them to wash their hands before dressing the burning surface; keep the burn baby from dust and do not let him/her itch the burning surface.”

How do people take care of burnt child after treatment?

A woman says, “My granddaughter was burnt and we took her to the hospital and after treatment, we were taking her to the clinic for dressing her wounds on time and we were taking care of her cleanliness too and her wounds healed soon.”

Doctor Qasim says, “They should apply the recommended ointment on the surface of the burn. The burnt child should be feed with notorious foods; prepare them toys and parents should properly pay attention to the dressing of the wounds and medicines.”