Did you know ...
... that the Burn Center at Harborview is one of the busiest burn centers in the world?
Last year 500 patients were cared for by the inpatient burn service, while the Burn Clinic handled more than 5,000 outpatient visits.
The burn team is made up of general and plastic surgeons, physical and occupational therapists, social workers, specialized nursing staff, psychologists, vocational rehabilitation therapists, a dietitian, a pharmacist, and special operating room teams.
... that the Burn Center provides care to nearly 25 percent of the landmass in the United States?
Our referral area for people suffering from a serious burn includes Washington, Alaska,
Montana, and Idaho. This area extends through five time zones. It is farther from Nome, Alaska to Seattle than from Seattle to Miami, Florida.
... that clinical research conducted at Harborview has set the standard for burn care all over the world?
Harborview was one of the first hospitals to adopt the approach of early removal of burned tissue, and was the first site of a major clinical trial for a temporary artificial skin graft, a technology that continues to advance.
... that of 26 burn surgeons trained here over the past 26 years, eight are directors of major U.S. burn centers?
Many of the others soon will be.
... that nearly 33 percent of patients in our Burn Center are children?
At any burn center, a large number of patients are children. Our Burn Center is committed to ensuring the health of our children, both physically and emotionally, after they have suffered a burn. Our burn professionals visit the patient’s school to help reacquaint them with their classmates and teachers. We share what they have been through and what they may look like so that when the children return to school
they are seen as heroes, not victims.
... that most patients who are discharged from the Burn Center at Harborview are back at work and school within a few months?
Harborview has set the standard for patient care for burns. Because of the clinical research done at Harborview, patients’ length of stay in a burn center has been drastically reduced. These standards in burn care, set by doctors at Harborview,
are practiced all over the world.
... that Harborview’s Burn Center also treats patients with severe skin disorders?
Skin disorders treated at Harborview include the devastating necrotizing fasciitis (flesh-eating disease) and toxic epidermal necrolysis. Toxic epidermal necrolysis, a drastic skin loss possibly due to a bad reaction to medications, used to have 20 percent survival rate. Treatment developed at Harborview using burn care principles has dramatically improved the survival rate to 85 percent.
... that 30 years ago there was only a 25-percent chance of survival for someone suffering from a severe burn?
Today, even patients with burns over 70 percent of their body have a 50-percent chance of survival, and the overall survival rate at the Burn Center at Harborview is 96 percent.
... that in almost all cases, a burn is completely avoidable?
In 2006, our community outreach programs in burn education and prevention reached more than 80,000 people. Burns can happen to anyone. The Burn Center at Harborview does its part to help educate the public on how to best avoid them.
Now that you know ...
WE ARE COMMITTED to securing $1.5 million for an endowed chair, as well as $2 million for a research and education endowment. These funds will enable us to stay at the forefront of medical breakthroughs related to burn care, which are making a world of difference to burn survivors everywhere. They will allow us to train the next generation of burn care providers, and recruit promising faculty. And they will support our community outreach work in burn prevention.
For more information about the UW Burn Center at Harborview or how you can support this valuable community resource, please contact:
Dr. Nicole Gibran
Director of the Burn Center
(206) 731-3140
Melody Burson
Associate Director of Development
(206) 543-6304