What is the recommended first aid for a thermal burn?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Cool running water for 20 minutes
- Step 1: Early cooling limits the depth of injury.
- Step 2: UK burns guidance recommends 20 minutes of cool running water.
Answer
Cool running water for 20 minutes.
Why not the others: Blisters burst at once and a dry dressing applied over the raw area: Bursting blisters raises infection risk. Ice applied directly to the burn for five minutes to stop blistering: Ice can cause further tissue damage. Butter applied to the skin and the area covered with a dry bandage: Butter retains heat and risks infection.
Practise more Trauma, burns and major bleeding.
Free questions with an explanation for every one, and full timed PLAB 1 (GMC, international medical graduates) mock tests.
More Trauma, burns and major bleeding questions
- A man stabbed in the thigh has bright red blood spurting from the wound and is also making noisy breathing sounds. Using the <C>ABCDE approa…
- A major trauma patient is bleeding from multiple injuries 90 minutes after injury. Which drug reduces mortality when given early?
- A 30-year-old man has a head injury with a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 12 on arrival in the emergency department. According to NICE NG232, w…
- An 80-year-old woman on apixaban has a minor head injury after a fall, with no loss of consciousness, GCS 15 and no other risk factor. What…
- A 26-year-old man has suspected carbon monoxide poisoning after a house fire. His pulse oximeter reads 99 percent. What is the correct inter…
- A cyclist has absent breath sounds on the right, hyperresonance, distended neck veins and hypotension. What is the immediate management?