Tarrant County may get its first verified medical burn center, allowing local severe burn victims to receive care on this side of North Texas.<\/p>\n
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth recently created a burn unit<\/a> and is in the process of receiving its American Burn Association verification, one of the highest burn care accreditations in the industry. Only six medical centers in the state currently have the certification, according to the medical association\u2019s website<\/a>, with 81 hospitals touting the standard internationally.<\/p>\n Texas Health officials were unable to provide a comment before publication.<\/p>\n Medical Control Advisory Board members spoke about changing destination criteria for burn victims to the Fort Worth hospital at their March 26 meeting.<\/p>\n Currently, the closest hospitals that have verified burn units are the Parkland Burn Center in Dallas and the Burn & Reconstructive Center of Texas at Medical City Plano in Collin County.<\/p>\n The other four verified burn centers are in Lubbock, Houston and Galveston.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a huge benefit for us to be able to keep our patients in Fort Worth \u2014 a benefit to them and a benefit to their families,\u201d said Dr. Jeffrey Jarvis, chief medical officer for Fort Worth and chair of the Medical Control Advisory Board.<\/p>\n A verification from the association increases a hospital\u2019s patient referrals, attracts more staff and provides a hospital with a better position for grants and funding.<\/p>\n Texas Health Fort Worth\u2019s burn unit, alongside other wound care facilities at Tarrant County trauma centers, generally receive and treat minor burns.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although not conclusive, research conducted<\/a> by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that patients treated at verified burn centers had slightly lower mortality rates than regular burn units.<\/p>\n First responders, who generally make the decision on where to take patients, will transport most major burn victims to verified centers. Patients would be transported to Parkland or Medical City Plano for severe burn symptoms.<\/p>\n According to Fort Worth EMS System Healthcare Protocols<\/a>, severe symptoms include:<\/p>\n Over 10% of body surface area covered in partial thickness burns. \u201c(Those are) the thresholds we take,\u201d said Dr. Brian Miller, an emergency medicine expert on the board. \u201cI think it\u2019s been there for a very long time, but I thought that was generally reflective of what the ABA (American Burn Association) had previously designated.\u201d<\/p>\n Texas Health Fort Worth will be able to receive severe burn patients from emergency service personnel when the American Burn Association confirms the hospital\u2019s verification process to the Medical Control Advisory Board, Jarvis said. Texas Health Fort Worth needs to receive a certain number of patients and treat them to receive the accreditation.<\/p>\n The board will then vote whether or not to send patients to the Fort Worth hospital.<\/p>\n Ismael M. Belkoura is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nCircumferential full-thickness burns, which may involve face, hands, feet or genitals.
\nSignificant-chemical or electrical burns, or airway involvement.<\/p>\n