The Treatment of Severe Burns
THE burned surface should be carefully cleansed, then washed with a three-per-cent solution of carbolic acid, or a thirty-per-cent solution of salicylic acid. After all the blisters are opened, the entire surface is covered with powdered bismuth, then with a layer of absorbent cotton, and finally with a light bandage. The cotton absorbs any discharges, and fully protects the burned surface from the air. The dressing should be allowed to remain from one to three weeks as the case may require. In using the bismuth there is no danger of poisoning from absorption, even in cases where the burn is extensive. By means of this method of treatment, the amount of secretion is greatly diminished.—Selected.