Excellent questions. Perhaps Silvadene is prescription only for the same reason that Bactroban is-limited scope of effectiveness restricts its safe use to the highly trained and intelligent physician. Barbie Bandaids are usually next to the Hulk bandaids, below the Disney character bandaids, and above the Roadrunner-coyote bandaids. Accept no substitutes.

Nursemike
ROFL
you beat me to the punch (course I am 4 hours late)


Mike

I've heard that honey is a good topical treatment for burns, anyone ever try it?

Lidocaine, like most medications, can cause problems if you overdose on it. If you apply a lot of burn gel containing lidocaine to a large, serious burn, it could potentially be absorbed very quickly and lead to an overdose situation.

Look at protocol 428 which has a good burn care steps. This is what we use (FDNY) here in NYC.

http://www.nycremsco.org/images/articlesserver/BLS%20Protocols%20January%202008%20v010108b.pdf

I found that gels such as waterjel are awesome for burns. I bring one with me for every outdoor trip and it works great on campfire burns, stove burns and even on sunburns. I always have little pockets on hands.

http://www.waterjel.com/

Now the entire "lidocaine" issue. Broken skin or burns can cause more of the Lidocaine to be absorbed causing side effects. Lidocaine is a pretty potent cardiac drug that if used wrong can cause serious problems and/or death. Few times a month I get called to a dentist office when injection that contained lidocaine instead of being in the gum went in too deep (unlucky needle hit) and hit a small vein. Pt usually reports palpitations, chest pain, sob etc... Usually symptoms disapear but I had few serious patients.

I was taking the sun one early autumn afternoon in 1975, sitting in the ambulance driveway at a Schenectady hospital. I looked across the 5-way intersection in front of the ER, and saw the door of the dentist's office across the way fly open. The dentist came running out, pushing a wheelchair with a young lady slumped over in it. He came across the intersection, up the ambulance ramp, and rolled to a stop in front of me. He reported that he had been administering a local prior to doing a procedure, and the patient had experienced palpitations. He figured the wheelchair ride was quicker than an ambulance call. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that the patient was Trixie the ICU nurse, a delightful young woman who had entered the nursing profession with the expressed intent of marrying a doctor. She was known in the ICU for her matching eye shadow and lingerie. Apparently the marital prospects in the unit were unfavorable; she was dressed in full '70's mating regalia for her dental appointment. It did facilitate hooking her up to the monitor. The inadvertent dose of IV lidocaine and attendant palpitations resolved promptly, and Trixie recovered, although the budding dental romance did not. Trixie went on to marry an icu doc, and her her wardrobe became much less flamboyant. That dental lido is tricky stuff.

In my packs and kits, I like to carry Spenco SecondSkin. During my hike up Mount Washington last week, after DW had called me a survivalist a few times which I tried to disavow, one of our companions wanted a bandage for a blister. Me, the guy with the biggest pack, sat down, opened it, and gave her some SecondSkin and athletic tape. She said she never felt the blister again. Now, I need to replace the package of SecondSkin, since it is open and won't be useable soon. However, I am having a tough time finding it.

I know SecondSkin was made for use on burns, and it would normally be what I'd use (only after use of much water), if I was going into one of my kits. How does watergel compare to SecondSkin, if any one knows?

Any alternatives to recommend?