Shokrollahi Kayvan, Tridente Ascanio, Dempsey Nina
Intensive Care Unit, Whiston Hospital, Mersey & West Lancashire NHS Trust, Merseyside.
Department of Life Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Ann Plast Surg. 2025 Sep 1;95(3):237-244. doi: 10.1097/SAP.0000000000004396. Epub 2025 May 6.
Worldwide, burn injuries cause approximately 180,000 deaths annually. Contributing to these figures are those deaths that occur following major burn incidents and explosions. Morbidity and mortality can be significantly high following such events, and well-equipped, specialized burns services are crucial to minimizing the human impact. Notably, major burn incidents are not merely medical emergencies, but catalysts for significant social and political change. We aimed to explore the human and political consequences of major burn incidents, with a view to highlighting the true significance of specialized burn care as a crucial component of disaster preparedness.
We screened the gray literature for reports of major burn incidents across the globe over a 10-year period from 2010 to 2020. We gathered data on the nature of the incident, the geographical location, the number of resulting injuries and deaths, and any resultant political fallout.
Twenty-three major burn incidents were identified, across 15 different countries. Incidents included chemical plant explosions, factory and warehouse fires, wildfires, housing block fires, and shopping center fires. The total number of deaths across the 23 reports was 2321. The median number of deaths per incident was 78 (interquartile range, 39-127), whereas the median number of injuries was 321 (interquartile range, 148-557). Eight of these 23 incidents (35%) resulted in the resignation of entire governments or key figures within the government, evidencing the major political fallout from such disasters. Collation of the individual reports revealed many instances of insufficient resource allocation and highlighted broader issues of institutional weakness and the need for comprehensive political reforms.
Major burn incidents are often pivotal moments that can expose systemic safety failures, highlight critical infrastructure vulnerabilities, demand comprehensive preventative strategies, and ultimately trigger governmental accountability. Governmental recognition of burn care as a crucial component of disaster preparedness as well as improved resource allocation for burn centers is crucial to ensuring they are better equipped to handle mass casualty events, thereby reducing morbidity and mortality and reducing government accountability following such events. Governments would be well advised to maintain healthy funding and staffing of burn services.
在全球范围内，烧伤每年导致约18万人死亡。造成这些死亡人数的原因包括重大烧伤事故和爆炸事件后的死亡。此类事件后的发病率和死亡率可能会显著升高，装备精良的专业烧伤服务对于将人员伤亡影响降至最低至关重要。值得注意的是，重大烧伤事故不仅是医疗紧急情况，更是重大社会和政治变革的催化剂。我们旨在探讨重大烧伤事故的人员和政治后果，以突显专业烧伤护理作为灾难准备关键组成部分的真正重要性。
我们筛选了2010年至2020年这10年间全球重大烧伤事故的灰色文献报告。我们收集了有关事故性质、地理位置、伤亡人数以及任何由此产生的政治影响的数据。
共确定了来自15个不同国家的23起重大烧伤事故。事故包括化工厂爆炸、工厂和仓库火灾、野火、居民楼火灾和购物中心火灾。23份报告中的死亡总数为2321人。每起事故的死亡中位数为78人（四分位间距，39 - 127），而受伤中位数为321人（四分位间距，148 - 557）。这23起事故中有8起（35%）导致整个政府或政府内关键人物辞职，证明了此类灾难的重大政治影响。对各份报告的整理揭示了许多资源分配不足的情况，并突显了体制薄弱的更广泛问题以及全面政治改革的必要性。
重大烧伤事故往往是关键时刻，可暴露系统性安全故障、突显关键基础设施的脆弱性、需要全面的预防策略，并最终引发政府问责。政府认识到烧伤护理是灾难准备的关键组成部分以及改善烧伤中心的资源分配对于确保它们更有能力应对大规模伤亡事件至关重要，从而降低发病率和死亡率，并减少此类事件后的政府问责。建议政府为烧伤服务维持充足的资金和人员配备。
