Burn Hazards of the Deployed Environment in Wartime: Epidemiology of Noncombat Burns from Ongoing United States Military Operations
Received 21 May 2009; received in revised form 18 June 2009; accepted 18 June 2009. published online 10 August 2009.
Background
Service in the deployed military environment carries risks for accidental (noncombat-related) burns. Examining these risks can assist in the development of military burn prevention measures. This study endeavored to examine noncombat burn epidemiology in the context of similar civilian data.
Study Design
We performed a retrospective cohort study of consecutive casualties evacuated from operational military theaters in Iraq and Afghanistan to the sole tertiary military burn center in the US. Military data were compared with database samples of the US population from the American Burn Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Results
The main causes of the 180 noncombat burns seen from March 2003 to June 2008 were waste burning, fuel mishaps, and unintentional ordinance detonations. Overall prevalence of noncombat burns was 19.5 burns/100,000 person-years lived. If causes specific to military operations are removed, military prevalence was 13.0/100,000. More than one-third of noncombat burns occurred in the first year of the study; a period of stability followed. A similar US population had an accidental burn prevalence of 7.1/100,000 from 2003 to 2007. Burn size, presence of inhalation injury, and burn center mortality were not different from those in a similar civilian cohort.
Conclusions
Deployed service members have a greater risk of unintentional burns than a similar civilian cohort does. This is in part because of the specific dangers of military activities. More attention to deployed military burn prevention is needed, especially early in combat support operations.
United States Army Institute of Surgical Research, Fort Sam Houston, TX
Correspondence address: David S Kauvar, MD, USAISR Clinical Division, 3400 Rawley E Chambers Bldg 3611, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234
Disclosure Information: Nothing to disclose.
The opinions and/or assertions contained herein are solely those of the authors and should not be construed as reflecting those of the US Army, Department of Defense, or government.
ABSTRACT