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B’H The Chaya Malka Burn Foundation For FREE subscription, send your email address to [email protected] Please share this newsletter The Burn Prevention Post www.whobyfire.com Summer Issue 4, phone: 972 2 673 3196 2011 Page 1 Please contact: Chaya Malka at 011-972-2-673-3196 [email protected] or Bonnie Evans at 301-754-2453 or [email protected] Consult a doctor if: Severe sunburn covers a large portion of your [email protected] Fun in the Sun Tips January Chaya Malka is available to speak to your community or school during January and May 2012. email: What’s the Best Remedy for Sunburn? It can take a full 24 hours after your fun in the sun exposure, to know just how severe your sunburn really is. Then it can take several days for your skin to begin to heal. The full extent of sunburn damage may be experienced years later! Keep Cool: Apply cold compresses — dampen a towel with cool water — and apply it to the affected skin, or take a cool bath. Some people attest that grated or thinly sliced raw potatoes applied like a poultice is the best treatment to soothe sunburn. Moisturize: Gently spread moisturizing cream, olive oil or aloe to the sunburn. Avoid products containing alcohol- they can dry out skin even more. Beware of sunburn treatment products with anesthetics, such as benzocaine. They can irritate the skin and they’re not very effective. Benzocaine has been linked to a rare, serious and sometimes deadly condition. Never use benzocaine on children younger than age 2. Drink lots of water to prevent dehydration, a headache is an indicator (cont pg 3) : Sunburn Prevention : Generously apply a broad-spectrum water-resistant sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of at least 30 to all exposed skin. "Broad-spectrum" provides protection from both ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) rays. Re-apply every two hours, even on cloudy days, and after swimming or sweating. body with blisters, Wear protective clothing, such as a long-sleeved shirt, pants, a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses, where possible. Sunburn is Seek shade when appropriate. The sun's rays are strongest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. If your shadow is shorter than you are, seek shade. accompanied by a high fever or severe pain, or Severe sunburn doesn't begin to improve within a few days. Use extra caution near water, snow and sand as they reflect the damaging rays of the sun. This can increase your chance of sunburn. Avoid tanning. Get vitamin D safely through a healthy diet that may include vitamin supplements. Don't seek the sun. Ultraviolet light from the sun and tanning beds can cause skin cancer and wrinkling. If you want to look like you've been in the sun, consider using a UV-free self-tanning product, but continue to use sunscreen with it. Check your birthday suit on your birthday. If you notice anything changing, growing, or bleeding on your skin, see a dermatologist. Skin cancer is very treatable when caught early. Page 2 “A burn that happens in just a few seconds can take years to heal if it is third degree. One who has never had a burn like this will not understand what the treatment means…..” Yoshua Heimlich, father of a young burn patient. The very special concern of Chaya Malka and her donors, enables us to continue the best treatments for our daughter. It is difficult to adequately express our gratitude! Thank you for your kindness! Chana’s Mom “Please tell your readers: Stop, Drop & Roll did not put out the fire from my polyester shirt! Douse polyester with water or dirt.” Burn Patient from Highland Park, NJ Chana’s Story After spending Pesach in Belgium, we were preparing to fly back to Israel. One hour before leaving, my one year old Chana tipped the kettle of boiling hot water on top of herself. While my husband ran to remove the kettle that was on her back and put her in the sink with cold water, my sister in law called Hatzola. Within minutes an emergency worker arrived. He adjusted the water to lukewarm to prevent pneumonia, and bathed her for 15 minutes before undressing her. He cut around the places where her clothes stuck to her skin. The burn required emergency treatment, so we rushed her to the hospital in an ambulance. Chana suffered second and third degree burns over 12% of her body, down her right side, on her arm and on her right leg. Miraculously there were no burns on her face or hands. The doctors said she would need skin grafts once her condition stabilized. She was in the hospital for a week on an IV before we could fly home. The stay in the Intensive Care Burn Unit cost 1,000 Euros a day (about 5,000 shekels). We did not have travel insurance! They charged extra for medicine, bandages and creams. At that time, friends told us about an amazing burn specialist in Jerusalem who runs a Burn Gemach from her home free of charge. She’s developed a natural method for treating burns, using antiseptic creams and powders, with added vitamins and minerals. Patients pay only for the cost of the creams. This specialist told us to give Chana extra vitamins and minerals (we used a protein drink) and lots of juices to replace the fluids she was losing from the wounds. For four months, we turned our house into a virtual hospital hoping that Chana could avoid the skin grafts. We cleaned and sterilized everything that Chana touched. Every other night we bathed Chana and had a major bandage changing ceremony. Twice a week she went back to the burn specialist. Because of the pain, we held our little baby 18 hours out of the 24 hour day and gave her Acanot and Nurofen. She also needed medication to relieve the itching, and antibiotics to prevent infection. Many nights we walked in the park near our home for hours just to keep her happy. With HaShem’s help, Chana did not need skin grafts. This treatment method may have taken longer to heal the wounds. But we felt that there was no comparison to the health, flexibility and growth rate of her natural skin verses having a skin graft. We felt it helped the appearance of her scars too which were raised and bumpy. Four years later, Chana is still wearing a Jobst (pressure) suit to push down her scars, and help restore smoother skin. Each Jobst suit costs about 3,000 shekels (about $900). The suit needs to be washed once a day to retain its elasticity, so the doctors recommend having two at a time. This enables continuous wearing. Chana outgrows her pressure suits 2 or 3 times a year. We still use creams and acorn butter to keep her skin supple. This is where Chaya Malka’s amazing organization comes in! They help fund these costly pressure garments. Insurance pays about 85% of the costs but only to a maximum of 3,300 shekels (one suit a year in Chana’s case). Chana also requires silicone patches to allow her pressure suit to achieve maximum success. Our family lives on a low income. Costs for Chana’s hospitalizations, pressure suits, creams, taxis to appointments, medications, vitamins and bandages are enormous! The very special concern of Chaya Malka and her donors enables us to continue the best treatments for our daughter. It is difficult to adequately express in words our gratitude for something so meaningful. Thank you all for your kindness! I will end our daughter’s story with a prayer that there should be no more suffering in Klal Yisrael. May we share only Simchas! Amen! Why It’s Important To Prevent Sunburn ! New statistics from the Academy of Dermatology show a dramatic increase in non-melanoma skin cancer. Young people are at an increased risk of developing this disease. Data show that non-melanoma skin cancer in the United States nearly doubled in only twelve years. Each year the number of new non-melanoma skin cancers is about 4 million! Camp Fire Safety Keep children away from campfires and matches. Always have water on hand to douse the campfire. (No Water, use dirt) Never leave fires unattended. Wait until they cool completely. GUARD THE LIGHTER FLUID and other accelerants. Page 3 Sunburn Tips continued Wear sunglasses! Leave blisters intact. If blisters form, don't break them. Popping blisters will only slow the healing process and increase the risk of infection. If needed, lightly cover blisters with gauze. Take an over-the-counter pain reliever. If needed, take anti-inflammatory medication — such as aspirin, ibuprofen, Advil or Motrin until redness and soreness subside. Don't give children or teenagers aspirin. It may cause Reye's syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal disease. Treat peeling skin gently. Within a few days, the affected area may begin to peel. This is simply your body's way of getting rid of the top layer of damaged skin, which can be insanely itchy. Continual moisturizing of burns with crèmes may prevent this. Wear sunglasses. (Avoid putting sunscreen near the eyelids.) Wear a hat. If you buy products online, by quickly going to the site iGive.com before purchasing, and writing Chaya Malka Burn Foundation as your charity, then part of your purchase amount will be contributed to The Chaya Malka Burn Foundation. About the Chaya Malka Burn Foundation The Chaya Malka Burn Foundation was established in 2003 by Chaya Malka Abramson to help Jewish burn patients in Israel. After recovering from burns on 85% of her body, Chaya Malka works to benefit other burn patients. Last year 2010 our generous supporters enabled us to: provide pressure garments suits to burn patients visit and counsel patients; and bring Shalach Manos for Purim buy crèmes and vitamin E for patients to help heal burns and lessen scars provide an information service for burn patients and their families publish our newsletter, The Burn Prevention Post; which contains burn prevention, and resource information educate the public in Israel and abroad about burn prevention and first aid provide a forum for burn patients on our website, www.whobyfire.net network with other organizations in Israel and abroad to provide help for burn patients and their families give air conditioners to burn patients wearing “Pressure Garments”, who were suffering greatly from last summer’s intense heat . (Jobst suits are extremely hot to wear, resulting in great agitation.) Please help us continue our important work. Send your contributions to: One of our adult burn patients had lighter fluid explode in her face, as she filled a lighter! Chaya Malka Burn Foundation, Inc c/o David Bahr CPAPC, 14 Uxbridge Street Staten Island New York 10314