BURNAID USER GUIDE
The Burnaid range consists of sterile gel impregnated burn dressings (including sachets and tubes) for immediate first aid treatment of burns. Burnaid rapidly cools the burn helping to prevent further tissue damage and aid the healing process. This offers the patient rapid and ongoing pain relief.
Burnaid Dressings provide an effective and simple way of relieving pain and treating burns. The dressing is placed on the burn and stays in-situ for up to two hours. There is no requirement to keep irrigating the burn, nor is there any ‘run-off’. Furthermore the need to administer narcotics for pain relief can be greatly reduced. The Dressing doesn’t disguise the extent of the burn. When the burn needs to be further examined, the nonadherent dressing simply lifts off and any residual gel rinsed off.Other Practical Benefits
– need only be applied once – saving nursing resources and time
– suitable alternative where clean cold water is not readily available
1. Can Burnaid be used on deep or full thickness burns?
Yes it can – Burnaid can be used on all burns, from sunburn superficial, partial and full thickness burns, however it is a short term dressing for up to two hours and not for prolonged use. Extensive testing and trials of the Burnaid Hydrogel have shown it will not cause any tissue damage. Burnaid Dressings are sterile, help donate moisture to the burn site and help protect against secondary infection and protect the wound.
2. Because Burnaid contains a small amount of Tea Tree Oil are there concerns regards allergies?
BURNAID dressings do contain a small percentage (1%) of Oil of Melaleuca alternifolia – Tea Tree Oil (TTO) as a preservative.
BURNAID gel in a tube (classified as complementary listed medicine) contain a higher level of Melaleuca Oil (4%) which exhibit antimicrobial activity.
We carefully select pure Australian Melaleuca Oil that has been carefully processed to reduce any trace contaminants that may cause sensitivity. Extensive studies have shown that pure Australian TTO 50% and 100% solutions have a 2/100 reaction rate. This is equivalent to any type of reaction rate for hand soaps sanitizers etc. Since BURNAID dressings use 1% and gel in a tube 4% TTO solution in a hydrogel, possible reactions are low.
3. Will Burnaid cause Hypothermia?
Any type of cooling modality has the potential to cause hypothermia – cooling with water, wet towels or hydrogels. Care should be taken to avoid hypothermia especially in those patients who are most at risk;
infants, elderly and those with large surface area burns. For these high risk patients it is recommended to cover Burnaid dressings with blankets, cling film or light open weave bandages to reduce the convection and heat loss. Any heat that is transferred out of the burn injury will be transferred back onto the patient maintaining a normo-thermic core body temperature. It is also recommended in some countries that hydrogels are not used on a Total Body Surface Area (TBSA) of 20% in adults and 10% TBSA in children.
4. I have been told I cannot use any creams or lotions on Burns and only water?
That is correct. Creams or lotions may be petroleum or waxed based and can trap heat in the wound. They can also cover the wound in a film like substance and make removal and wound assessment for medical practitioners difficult. Burnaid dressings and gels are a water based gels consisting of >90% water in a gel that breaks down with heat from the burn injury. This releases water onto the wound and cools through evaporation and convection airflow. It is completely water soluble and any extra gel breaks down and washed away with flushing of water or saline. Burnaid is water in a gel.
5. How long can you keep Burnaid?
Burnaid Dressing are sterile product that has a shelf life of 5 years from date of manufacture when stored below 30 Degrees Celsius. Do not reuse opened dressings or damaged packs. Burnaid Gel in tubes (4% TTO), can be re-used for up to 1 month after opening if stored below 30 Degrees Celcius.
