Burn Services
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Service Overview
Every minute, someone in the United States is treated for a serious burn injury.
If you get burned and need medical treatment, you can get care from expert providers in urgent care clinics, emergency departments, or primary care settings across Hawaiʻi Pacific Health.
Serious or complex burns are treated by the specialized Burn Care Unit at Straub Benioff Medical Center.
Our goal is to help each patient achieve their highest level of recovery and quality of life, with clinical support and care each step of the way.
Conditions & Treatments
Types of Burns
You can get a burned many ways; it doesn't always involve fire or an open flame. Different types of burn injuries can include:
- Thermal burns caused by skin coming into contact with any heat source.
- Electrical burns caused by contact with electricity.
- Chemical burns caused by contact with, or ingestion of, strong acids or alkalis.
- Necrotizing fasciitis, a bacterial infection also known as flesh-eating disease.
- Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), a rare, life-threatening skin condition.
- Other severe skin diseases.
- Severe skin abrasions, including road rash.
- Any condition that requires skin grafting.
When to Seek Treatment
Burns can range in severity from minor to life-threatening. The care you receive for burns will depend on the type and severity (classification) of your injury.
It can be hard to tell how bad your burn is at first, but it's important to keep an eye on your injury in case it gets worse after one or two days.
Care at Kapiʻolani
Every day, 300 children ages 0 to 19 are treated in emergency departments nationwide for burn-related injuries.
At Kapiʻolani Medical Center, our multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, support staff, and more who work side by side to take care of children who've suffered from burn injuries from the moment they come through the door to the moment they return home.
When advanced burn services are required, care is coordinated with the Burn Care Unit at Straub Benioff Medical Center.
Resources for Families
Injury Prevention
Kapiʻolani's Injury Prevention team works to decrease injury-related hospital visits through community outreach and education.
Working alongside Kapiʻolani Trauma Services, Injury Prevention works to treat and prevent childhood injuries, no matter how common or complex they are.
Teddy Goes to the Hospital
To help raise awareness about burn safety, the team at Kapiʻolani created the video “Teddy Goes to the Hospital.”
This child-friendly video follows Teddy along his medical journey at Kapiʻolani – from his arrival at the emergency department to the care he received from the doctors, nurses, and other staff who work at the medical center.
Families are encouraged to watch this video together to learn how burns are taken care of at Kapiʻolani, as well as easy-to-follow tips to stay safe around hot liquids.
Care at Pali Momi
Patients with burn injuries are evaluated and treated by experienced providers at Pali Momi Medical Center.
Care is coordinated with the Burn Care Unit at Straub Benioff Medical Center when advanced burn services are required.
Care at Straub Benioff
The Straub Benioff Burn Care Unit offers the highly specialized services and multi-specialty team approach that severe burns require. Since burns can affect many functions and systems of the body, we design each treatment and rehabilitation to meet the patient’s unique needs.
Since its inception, the Straub Benioff Burn Care Unit has treated more than 2,000 patients admitted for lifesaving and limb-preserving procedures. Each year, the unit provides state-of-the-art burn care, intricate wound assessment, and other specialized treatment.
Established in 1983 under the leadership of Drs. Robert Schulz and James Penoff, the Burn Care Unit remains the only burn unit in the state of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific region.
Multidisciplinary Team Provides Comprehensive Burn Care
Patients in the Burn Care Unit receive outstanding personalized attention delivered through our multidisciplinary team approach.
Burn Care Unit Medical Director and Cofounder Dr. Robert W. Schulz is joined by Dr. David Cho and Dr. Michael Pharaon, who all are certified by the American Burn Association.
Additionally, a majority of providers who work in the Burn Care Unit, as well as in our Intensive Care Unit, are certified in Advanced Burn Life Support (ABLS). Many of our nurses and physicians are also ABLS instructors. These designations allow them the ability to provide burn care training to other clinical staff at Straub Benioff as well as other hospitals in the state of Hawaiʻi and beyond.
In addition to this core medical staff, other specialists who are part of a patient’s recovery plan may include:
- Specialized nursing staff
- Operating room nurses and technicians
- Physical and occupational therapists
- Social workers
- Psychologists and behavioral health specialists
- Vocational rehabilitation therapists
- Dermatologists
- Dietitians
- Ophthalmologists
- Pharmacists
- Case managers
- Palliative care specialists
- Chaplains
Straub Benioff provides seamless coordination of these services in order to provide the best patient experience possible, from the initial acute setting to outpatient rehabilitation and long-term follow-up care.
Disaster Response Consortium for Coordinated Care
The Straub Benioff Burn Care Unit is a member of the Western Region Burn Disaster Consortium, which was created by the American Burn Association as part of its national disaster response plan to manage regional burn surge capabilities in the event of mass casualty incidents. As the only Hawaiʻi member of the consortium, the Burn Care Unit serves as the liaison with other burn units and centers in the region to coordinate resources and support for burn patients in Hawaiʻi.
Care at Wilcox
Patients with burn injuries are evaluated and treated by experienced providers at Wilcox Medical Center and Kauaʻi Medical Clinic.
Care is coordinated with the Burn Care Unit at Straub Benioff Medical Center when advanced burn services are required.
Our Care Locations
Oʻahu
Straub Benioff Medical Center
Straub Benioff Medical Center
888 S. King St.
Honolulu, HI 96813
Phone: 808-522-4000
Get directions
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