Suffering a traumatic burn injury in a serious Kentucky accident can leave patients fighting for their lives. A burn victim’s best chance at recovery is through the compassion and care administered by the dedicated doctors and nurses who work at burn clinics.
These specialized units offer the most focused and advanced treatment for burn patients. They also stand beside patients as they cope with long-term recoveries from severe burn injuries and help them rebuild their lives.
Kentucky has only one burn center, but there are plenty of emergency rooms and trauma centers with medical staff ready to assist burn accident victims in every corner of the state. There are also several burn center hospitals just across state lines ready to rush to the aid of Kentucky accident victims.
Burn Centers Defined
There are somewhere around 120 burn centers in the United States. A burn center is a focused care facility that is usually affiliated with a hospital. Burn units provide emergency care and rehabilitation for severely burned patients.
Burn centers will have the most up-to-date medical equipment to treat major burn injuries. Burn centers have round-the-clock access to trauma surgeons who specialize in acute burn care. Some burn centers focus on the care of children who are especially vulnerable to burn injuries.
Burn centers are also concerned about the victim’s quality of life once they go home. They have psychiatrists, career counselors, physical therapists, nutritionists, and other professionals ready to help patients resume their normal routines as much as possible. Plastic surgeons also work with burn unit patients to provide the best care available when reducing the effects of scars and disfigurements.
Which Patients Are Taken to Burn Centers?
Patients suffering from the worst burn injuries are often assessed in emergency rooms and then flown by helicopter or driven by ambulance to the closest burn center. Many victims who make this trip are suffering from third-degree burns. Third-degree burns leave the outer skin and the layer beneath so damaged that it can’t repair itself and grow new skin.
The American Burn Association (ABA) lists other criteria followed when identifying patients that need care from a burn center:
- Victims with partial thickness burns greater than 10% of total body surface area (TBSA).
- Victims with burn wounds on the face, hands, feet, genitalia, perineum, and involving major joints.
- Victims with inhalation burn wounds.
- Victims with electrical burns and chemical burns.
- Burn victims with other health issues that make recovery more difficult. This is often the case for elderly burn victims.
- Child burn victims.
Kentucky Burn Center
The only burn center in Kentucky as of 2022 is the University of Louisville Burn Unit. The burn center is housed in the UofL Hospital and it’s been treating burn victims since 1984. The facility features a state-of-the-art 16-bed unit and treats 350 patients a year from the tri-state area.
University of Louisville Burn Clinic
Located in the UofL Physicians Outpatient Center
401 E Chestnut St Suite 270
Louisville, KY 40202
502-562-3457
Kentucky Wound Care Clinic
Burn patients can also seek help with their healing after they’ve received emergency care and are in burn recovery wounds at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Lexington. The staff at the wound care clinic here holds a burn clinic for victims every Friday morning.
UK Good Samaritan Hospital – Wound Care Clinic
135 E. Maxwell St. Third Floor, Suite 318
Lexington, KY 40508
859-226-7050
Out-Of-State Burn Centers Serving Kentucky Accident Victims
There are other burn centers across state lines that treat Kentucky accident victims. Burn patients may be transported to any of these hospitals when suffering from severe burns.
Nashville, TN
1211 Medical Center Drive, Suite 11234
Nashville, TN 37232
615-322-4590
Huntington, WV
1340 Hal Greer Blvd
Huntington, WV 25701
304-526-2000
Cincinnati, OH
University of Cincinnati Medical Center – UC Health Burn Center
234 Goodman Street, Cincinnati, OH 45219
513-584-1000
Contact a Kentucky Burn Accident Injury Lawyer
After you or a loved one suffers a traumatic burn injury due to someone’s careless act, talk over your options with a skilled Kentucky burn injury attorney. If you or your family member must seek care at a burn center, the cost of that specialized care should never fall to you or close relatives. All costs of recovery should be covered by a negligent party’s insurance provider.
Contact a Kentucky Burn Injury Accident Lawyer and set up a free consultation to find out how to receive all of the benefits that are available to you and your family. We offer this confidential service to every burn victim with no obligation. If you feel Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC, can help you earn the most for your burn injury claim, you won’t need any money right now. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you.
