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University Hospital Burn Center participates in federal study documenting burns related to children's clothing

The Clark Burn Center at University Hospital

has joined the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and burn centers across the country in an initiative aimed at collecting data about serious clothing-related burns to children under age 15.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission's new National Burn Center Reporting System is a cooperative effort of the Clark Burn Center, the American Burn Association, Shriners Hospitals for Children and the National Association of State Fire Marshals.

Under the new system, University Hospital and other burn centers that treat children will report to the commission any incidents in which a child's clothing is believed to play a part in a burn injury.

"One of our top priorities is to keep families safe from fires," said Hal Stratton, chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. "We want sound science and solid data to be the basis for decisions we make on regulatory strategies. The National Burn Center Reporting System will give us a more complete picture of the most serious clothing-related burns to children and help us prevent or reduce burn incidents in the future," he said.

When a participating burn center reports an incident to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the commission assigns an investigator to the case to conduct an in-depth investigation into the circumstances surrounding the burn injury. The information is logged into the commission's epidemiological databases.

"This tool will give safety experts much needed information that was previously not available to better document and understand the nature and cause of clothing related burn injuries to children," said William Myers, a nurse practitioner with the Clark Burn Center.

The National Association of State Fire Marshals also is participating by retrieving and preserving for the commission children's clothing involved in burn injuries.

The Clark Burn Center at University Hospital is one of only two burn centers outside of metropolitan New York. From 1990 to 2000, the center has treated individuals from 40 New York state counties, including 577 people from Onondaga County, 190 from Oneida County and 165 from Oswego County, 24 individuals from Pennsylvania and six from other states.

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