Burn Center Referral Criteria

Burn Center Referral Criteria 1. Burn injuries that should be referred to a burn center include, but are not limited to the following: a. Partial-thickness burns of greater than 10% of the total body surface area; b. Burns that involve the face, hands, feet, genitalia, perineum, or major joints; c. Third-degree burns; d. Electrical burns, including lightning injury; e. Chemical burns; f. Inhalation injury; g. Burn injury in patients with pre-existing medical disorders that could complicate management, prolonged recovery, or affect mortality; h. Burn injury in patients who will require special social, emotional, or rehabilitative intervention; i. Burns and concomitant trauma (such as fractures) when the burn injury poses the greatest risk of morbidity or mortality. If the trauma poses the greater immediate risk, the patient’s condition may be stabilized initially in a Trauma Center before transfer to a burn center; j. Burns in children; children with burns should be transferred to a burn center designated to treat children. In the absence of a regional designated pediatric burn center, an adult burn center may serve as a second option for the management of pediatric burns.