February 1-7 is Burn Awareness Week, and Shriners Hopsital for Children is kicking off a year-long campaign focused on preventing gasoline burn injuries.
According to a study published in the November 2007 issue of the Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation, there are an estimated 10,000 pediatric burn injuries annually in the United States. Most burn injuries are preventable.
Reckless use and improper storage of gasoline leads to thousands of young children being burned every year. These dangerous behaviors are being addressed in Shriners Hospitals 2009 Burn Awareness Week campaign (www.burnawarenessweek.org).
Shriners Hospitals specializing in burns have treated more than 800 children since 2002 for acute burns due to ignition of a highly flammable material such as gasoline. To help parents, caregivers, educators and firefighters teach children about the dangers of gasoline, www.burnawarenessweek.org provides printable lesson plans and fact sheets, as well as printable coloring pages featuring Anthony the Ant, who takes kids along on his mission to prevent gasoline injuries.
Want to Help?
Shriners Hospitals for Children is a one-of-a-kind health care system providing pediatric specialty care to thousands of kids each year…at no charge…thanks to the generosity of donors, past and present.
My late grandfather was a Shriner, and he did more than wear a funny-looking Shriners’ hat to meetings. For most of his life, he helped raise funds to provide free treatment to children in need at Shriners Hospital for Children- Philadelphia. (There are Shriners Hospitals in over 20 U.S. cities.) He took the responsibility seriously up until he was too sick to volunteer anymore. I still remember him telling me about various children the Shriners Hospital helped in Philadelphia, and I support their mission of providing health care to children in need. You can donate online at www.shrinershq.org/Shrine/
