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Developing a Burn Unit: Our Experience at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki, Southeast Nigeria
Abstract
Background: The burden of burn injuries in developing countries overwhelms the few regional burn centers. Tertiary institutions are involved hugely in the management of extensive burn injuries despite the lack of specialized burn units. This necessitates setting up a burn unit in our tertiary center. We aim to share our experience to stimulate our colleagues in different tertiary institutions to commence the process of setting up a Burn Unit in their respective institutions.
Methods and Results: The development of the Burn unit in Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki took approximately 7.5 years from September 2013 to March 2021. It started as a Burn Facility and smoothly developed into a Burn Unit with a distinct leadership and resulted in a more effective and smooth running of the unit with an improved capacity and a promising outcome.
Conclusion: A strong commitment is required from the plastic surgeons to drive the process of setting up a Burn Unit through a rigorous transition from a burn facility smoothened by the ability to make a case for expansion of an existing unit. The argument is to ensure that Burn Unit takes its rightful place like Emergency and In-
