The American Burn Association in the New Millennium.

Abstract

I’d like to welcome you all to the 33rd Annual Meeting of the American Burn Association (ABA). Because we are in Boston, I’d like to start with the Cocoanut Grove fire. The Cocoanut Grove was a popular night club in Boston, which was located just a few blocks from here (Figure 1). On November 28, 1942, it was to be the scene of a celebration after the Boston College and Holy Cross football game. Luckily, Boston College lost, and therefore, fewer people showed up for the celebration. Briefly, the fire began with a match igniting flammable decorations in the Melody Lounge in the basement of the Cocoanut Grove. Ultimately, 488 people lost their lives. Out of this tragedy, multiple important advancements arose not only in the fire and safety code as outlined in Figure 2 but also in many burn care advancements as described in Figure 3. The concept of inhalation injury became apparent because many of the victims died at the scene of something other than cutaneous burns. They also died en route to the hospital or later after walking into the hospital with apparently only minor injuries. Other medical advances also occurred, including surface and surgical treatments, fluid management, and using penicillin to fight infection (Table 1). Just as the Cocoanut Grove fire was a seminal event in fire safety and medical care, the founding of the ABA in 1967 was a milestone in total burn care utilizing teaching, research, prevention, and rehabilitation activities. In the early days the ABA was more of a “mom-and-pop” volunteer organization. Today, it has evolved from an academic society to a major sociopolitical organization that is the sole spokesperson for the burn care field. During the past few years, an infrastructure has been established to support new programs needed by the burn care field, and this new structure has resulted in many successful accomplishments.