Heat wave: watch out for burns caused by the ground or street furniture!

in collaboration with

Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)

This is an alert issued by the burn care center, Arizona Burn Center. The heat is so intense in Arizona that some people have been burned, not by too much sun exposure but by falling to the ground. Explanations.

Very serious burns, caused by the asphalt

Dr. Kevin Foster, chief of burn care at Valleywise Health’s Arizona Burn Center, talks to CNN and ABC News in these words: “We know summer is a busy season, but the number of patients we’re seeing right now and the severity of their injuries is really unusual.”.

In fact, half of the people hospitalized in the intensive care unit are there for a burn caused by the ground, after a fall. The ground, and especially asphalt, is dangerous for the bare skin of a person who falls on it. Being a dark and dense material, asphalt overheats during heat waves and retains heat.

Temperatures reaching 48°C

With the sharp rise in temperatures, reaching 48°C for several consecutive days, the ground therefore has plenty of time to warm up to the point of being scorching hot.

It even reached temperatures higher than those of the ambient air, on average 5 to 15°C above. Serious burns therefore happen all the more easily when it is an elderly person who cannot get up after a fall, remaining immobilized on the ground for long minutes.

According to Dr. Foster, these patients will “suffering third degree burns, which will require multiple surgeries and spending weeks or even months in hospital”.

Advice from Dr Gérald Kierzek, emergency doctor and medical director of Doctissimo

With the high temperatures and the episodes of heat wave that we have known in France, we can wonder what to do, in the event of a burn.

Dr Gérald Kierzek, emergency physician, explains: “Of course, the ground and especially street furniture, especially metal, can heat up during a heat wave. The first reflex, instinctive, will be to withdraw, to avoid the serious burn. And if this happens, in children who slide on a toboggan, for example, you should not put butter or toothpaste, as we can sometimes read. You must cool the burn, by running cool water over it and consult your pharmacist to obtain a cream to apply, such as Flammazine, for example.“.

Last practical tip: consider your pet if you have one. He may also have his pads burned by the ground, in case of too high temperatures.