Posted: 10/7/2019
National Fire Prevention Week is Oct. 6-12
June 19, 2018 began like every other summer day for Felicia Scott and her then 12-year old son, Nickolas. But that afternoon Felicia received a call that would forever change their lives. “I was at work when I received a call that Nick was burned and being flown to Parkland,” she said, recalling that terrifying moment.
Not knowing how badly her son was injured or the circumstances that led to his injuries, Felicia raced from her office in Bridgeport to Parkland Memorial Hospital’s Regional Burn Center. It was then she learned her son was in critical condition with burns over 60% of his body.
“He wasn’t intubated (a tube inserted through the mouth to help with breathing) until he got to Parkland so I was able to talk to him for five seconds before he was airlifted to the hospital,” she said. “Still, I didn’t know what to expect.”
It wasn’t until later that Felicia learned her son had been playing with a lighter when he either accidentally knocked over a bottle of opened rubbing alcohol or the vapors came in contact with the flame. Isopropyl alcohol, commonly referred to as rubbing alcohol, is highly flammable and can easily ignite, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). As a result, Nickolas received second and third degree burns to his jaw, neck, chest, arms, hands, thighs and buttocks, and spent more than two months in the burn center followed by outpatient care and physical therapy as well as numerous procedures over the past year.
Throughout his stay Felicia rarely left her son’s bedside and formed a bond with other mothers whose children were also hospitalized in the burn center. “Without the support from Parkland staff, family, other moms from the Burn Unit, friends and the community of Decatur I wouldn’t have been able to get through this,” she said, adding that her husband works out of town and could not be at the hospital every day.
In the last three years, more than 20 children have been admitted to Parkland’s burn center due to injuries from playing with fire, according to Stephanie Campbell, MS, RN, CCRN-K, Burn Program Manager, Parkland Regional Burn Center. Ranging in age from 5 to 17 years, more than half of the children were age 10 or younger and approximately 25% had burns severe enough to require intubation and mechanical ventilation.
“Most of the injuries occurred from flash fires while playing with a lighter and either gasoline or rubbing alcohol,” Campbell said. “A few of the children were injured when their clothing caught fire.”
And, Campbell added, “All of the patients who were admitted were boys.”
“Fire starting” happens when children begin to experiment with fire using matches and lighters, according to the NFPA. Many fires happen when young children are left alone, even for a short period of time and have access to matches and lighters.
The NFPA offers the following parent safety tips:
• Store matches and lighters out of children’s reach and sight, up high, preferably in a locked cabinet or container.
• Never leave matches or lighters in a bedroom or any place where children may go without supervision.
• Teach young children and school-aged children to tell a grown-up if they see matches or lighters. Children need to understand that fire is difficult to control; it is fast and can hurt as soon as it touches you.
• It is important for grown-ups to discourage unsupervised fire starts.
• Never use lighters or matches as a source of amusement for children; they may imitate you.
• Never assign a young child any tasks that involve the use of a lighter or matches (lighting candles, bringing a lighter to an adult to light a cigarette or the fireplace, etc.)
• If your child expresses curiosity about fire or has been playing with fire, calmly but firmly explain that matches and lighters are tools for adults only.
• Use only lighters designed with child-resistant features. Remember, child-resistant does not mean child-proof.
As for Nickolas, he says he’s doing “good,” and this summer attended Camp I-Thonka-Chi, Parkland’s week-long camp for children ages 6 to 18 with burn injuries. There, he enjoyed canoeing and meeting other young burn survivors. He also traveled to Nova Scotia, Canada where he met others at Atlantic Burn Camp for nature hikes, among other activities.
Still, Nickolas’s journey is far from over. “Just like all kids he has his days,” his mom said, adding that small balloons called expanders have been placed beneath Nickolas’ skin to encourage certain areas of healthy skin to grow and stretch. This new tissue will be used during an additional reconstruction surgery that is scheduled for early 2020 to help with movement in his neck.
In addition, staff from Parkland’s burn center visited Nickolas’ Decatur middle school as part of its re-entry program.
“An injury this severe has long-term challenges for children and their families. Our goal is to get kids back to as much of their normal routine as possible, as quickly as we can. Going back to school is a huge milestone after you’ve been in the hospital for many weeks, and the goal of the school re-entry program is to ease that transition,” Campbell said. “We went back to school with Nick on his first day and spent time with his classmates, teachers and school staff. We talked with them about what he had been through after his injury, the differences they would see in his skin, and how they can help him as he continues to recover.”
Further adding to the healing process, on the one-year anniversary of his injury Nickolas and Felicia met with members of the EMS and Air Evac teams to personally thank them for their life-saving work. It was a chance, too, for those first responders to see the progress Nickolas has made in the months since the accident.
For more information about services available at Parkland, please visit www.parklandhospital.com