First Aid and Initial Management of Burn

A burn is damage to the skin and underlying tissue caused by heat, chemicals, electricity or extreme cold – a simplistic definition for a very complex injury. Burns damage or destroy one or more layers of the skin. Deeper burn burns may involve the fat, muscle or bone.The temperature to which the skin is exposed and the length of time the skin is exposed to the burning substance determine the depth of injury. Burns range in severity from minor injuries that require no medical treatment to serious, life-threatening or fatal injuries. Burns are categorized in terms of degrees, which are described below. Partial thickness injuries to the skin include first and second degree burns. Full thickness injuries encompass third degree and deeper burns. A burn injury to any individual person may include a mixture of degrees of burn.