748 The Calm After the Storm? Burn Injury Incidence Following Hurricanes and Tropical Storms

Abstract

Abstract Introduction In recent years, we have noted a pattern of a surges in burn admissions occurring in the wake of some of the larger storm events occurring in our region. Many injuries incurred in the activities related to the storms’ aftermath— accelerate related burns from burning debris, generator explosions, and electrical repair burns. It is suspected that conditions created by larger storms may increase the population-wide risk for burn injuries for some time after the storm itself. If trues, this would suggest a need for more concerted burn prevention efforts in the wake of major natural disasters. The purpose of this study was to identify whether there is indeed a predictable surge in burn injuries relationships between seasonal variation and burn injuries in one catchment area of a regional center. We hypothesize that there is an underlying association between significant storms and an increased number of burn-related injuries before and after storms. Methods Using a retrospective approach, we examined burn center admission data from 2007–2018 (N=4,637) to include burns in the week prior to and three weeks after hurricane or tropical storm events (a storm window) in our state. This dataset only examined burns in which patients were admitted greater than 20 hours to exclude any confounding follow-up visits. Results Using Poisson regression to evaluate the effect of the storm window has on the number of daily admissions, there was found to be no significant association in respect to daily case totals (p=.165) when comparing across all years in respect to storm windows. When examining data from 2017 and 2018; years in which severe storms (category 4+) hit the state of Florida, there was found to be a significant increase in the number of daily burn admissions during the storm window by about 39% (p=0.039) as compared to 2015 when no storms hit the state. Conclusions It is hypothesized that a significant association of injuries were found in later years due to the ever-increasing intensity of storms hitting the state. Public awareness should be directed to the dangers of burns and related injuries in the wake of major weather events, i.e. before and after storms. In addition, further studies should examine the relationships between injuries and weather-related events. Applicability of Research to Practice Awareness of a tendency for burn injuries and admissions to surge after major storms could be used to improve the timing and content of burn prevention response to these incidents.