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Departments

Burn Service

Our Services

At Kaiser Permanente prevention is our most common prescription for illness and injuries.  Just as with other medical conditions, burns can be prevented with awareness.

We specialize in the evaluation and treatment of burns less than 15% of total body surface area (TBSA), and without inhalation injuries, as well as non-pediatric members. Due to the complexity of burn injuries, members will be evaluated on case-by-case basis for admission.  If a member has a burn greater than 15% TBSA, he/she will be referred to a non-KP Burn Center.

Burns requiring a non-KP Burn Center specialist would include:

  • Burns greater than 10% TBSA in a child or 15% TBSA in an adult
  • Burns complicated by inhalation injuries and/or fractures
  • Electrical burns
  • Select deep second and third degree burns involving critical areas, e.g., hands, face, feet and genitalia
  • Significant burns involving patients with major psychiatric disorders
  • Select burns in infants with underlying  medical or psychosocial needs

About Burns and How To Get Care

  • How To Get Care
     We are a Referral Only department. The Emergency Department physician, pediatrician, or surgeon will contact Plastic Surgery directly for burn evaluations.  Our plastic surgeon will help determine patient disposition to burn centers or burn specialists.
  • How to estimate the burned surface areas in adults and children
     The body is divided into anatomical regions that represent 9% of the total body surface area (TBSA).  The rule of 9’s is commonly used to estimate the burned surface area in adults figure 1); but it’s too imprecise for estimating the burned surface area in children because the child’s head and extremities represent different proportions of surface area than in an adult (figure 2).  Burns greater than 15% in an adult and greater than 10% in a child or any burn occurring in the very young or elderly are serious.  Morbidity and mortality rises with increasing burned surface area.  It also rises with increased age so that even small burns may be fatal in elderly people.