Firefighters Experience Pain of Burn Injuries

In January 1996, Mike Conlin, a firefighter and now captain in Jersey City, was called to the scene of a building fire. He and Captain Eugene Walsh climbed up to a floor they believed was above the fire. At the top of the stairs there was a hallway with a door leading to a kitchen. As Conlin prepared to take out the window into the kitchen, he heard his partner scream.

“I turned to look and there was a huge fireball,” he recalls. “We were hit flush by the fireball and knocked backwards. I was on fire; it was all over my coat. As I stepped into the hallway, Gene knocked me to the floor to smother the flames that covered me. My face mask was knocked off and burning carpet stuck to my face.”

Still on fire in some areas, Conlin and Captain Walsh bellyflopped down a set of stairs to escape. As he lay at the bottom of the stairs, Conlin heard another firefighter praying.

Both firefighters were transported to a local hospital, and immediately requested to be transferred to The Burn Center at Saint Barnabas. Conlin had second degree burns on his face, throat and mouth, but appeared deceptively calm.

“I was actually going into shock from the smoke inhalation,” he recalls.

Nurses in the Burn Intensive Care Unit stayed with Captain Conlin around the clock to make sure that his airway remained open. He was given state-of-the-art medical attention for his burns during his stay and the care continued for an extended period on an outpatient basis after his release and return to work. The following year, Conlin was promoted to the rank of captain.

Caring for Burned Firefighters

While the professionals at The Burn Center give their compassionate care to each patient, there is a special place in their hearts for burned firefighters.

“Because we work so closely with the firefighters and know them personally as well as professionally, when one of them is injured, it’s as if the injury happened to one of us,” says Kathe M. Conlon, B.S.N., R.N., Community Nurse Educator, Saint Barnabas Burn Foundation.

Burn educators teach firefighters about the devastating and complicated physical effects of a burn injury. For example, Ms. Conlon says, burns are progressive and the burn you see five minutes after the accident may be more extensive hours later. Captain Conlin, whose partner also recovered from his burn injuries, says the firefighters feel a special bond to The Burn Center staff.

“I saw similarities between burn unit camaraderie and firefighters,” says Conlin. In fire companies, whole platoons look after each other like a family, and it is the same at The Burn Center. We know The Burn Center staff well and invite them to picnics at the firehouse. They do a tremendous job.”

New Insight into the Pain of Burn Victims

Firefighters who experience the terrible ordeal of a burn injury have a new understanding of the plight of those they rescue from burning buildings.

Lathey Wirkus, Battalion Chief of the Elizabeth Fire Department, was one of the first critically injured firefighters to be treated at The Burn Center. He suffered third degree burns to both hands and first and second degree burns to his face and neck after being trapped in a burning room.

"I considered my burns to be minor compared to some I saw at The Burn Center," he says. "I don't know how people survive with burns over their whole body and I don't think people realize how painful it can be. Burns are a horrific injury."

After a two and a half-week stay at The Burn Center and months of extensive physical and occupational therapy, Chief Wirkus regained strength in his hands. The process was humbling-it was four months before he could open a door.

Chief Wirkus, who raised $10,000 for the Saint Barnabas Burn Foundation and has done extensive burn outreach programs for children, does have one special memory from the terrible incident.

"When the firefighters came to visit they always told the nurses that they were my brothers," he says. "The nurses understood. They respect that bond."

Burn Center at Saint Barnabas is Nationally Recognized

For the past six years The Burn Center at Saint Barnabas has received verification by the American College of Surgeon's Trauma Committee and the American Burn Association. This is a distinction shared only by about 40 other burn centers nationally. Every three years The Burn Center voluntarily submits to the extensive process of evaluation and has, each time, passed without any deficiency, receiving an "unqualified verification" by the reviewing body.

"The process is extensive," says E. Hani Mansour, M.D., Medical Director of The Burn Center and attending burn surgeon. "Among the multitude of checks, they evaluate how the unit is staffed and equipped, protocols that are set, procedures that are performed, and the outcome of severe burn patients treated at The Burn Center. The reviewers are past presidents of the American Burn Association with extensive experience."

Although most hospitals have surgeons who could treat burn patients, a dedicated burn team with specially trained multidisciplinary staff is necessary to provide the full spectrum of care burn patients need. Burns are serious injuries and may frequently lead to complications.

A Multidisciplinary Team

At Saint Barnabas more than 90 burn professionals from a dozen specialty areas are available to burn patients. The Burn Center features advanced equipment, including a burn-dedicated hydrotherapy room and fully equipped rehabilitation selection.

"A serious burn is a devastating injury that affects not only function and appearance but also emotion, says Dr. Mansour. "This kind of disfiguring, traumatic experience requires the total care offered at a burn unit. Burn patients at other hospitals are transferred to Saint Barnabas because the treating staff realizes they do not have the right equipment or resources to properly care for the patient."

Dr. Mansour relates that although caring for burn patients is "extremely hard," few members of the burn team would choose to work anywhere else.

"We have a high retention rate with our staff," he says. "I think we all feel that we are capable of doing a good job because we work as a team and have the support of an administration who understands the needs of burn patients. It is rewarding to be able to help people with such devastating injuries."

For patient care, please call The Burn Center at Saint Barnabas at (973) 322-5920. To make a donation or to learn more about prevention and safety, please call The Saint Barnabas Burn Foundation at (973) 322-4344.