COOLING, CLEANSING, AND DRESSING
Immediately cool burn with cool running tap water (10-20°C) for 20 minutes (within 3 hours of injury). Gently cleanse with mild soap or sterile saline, leave small intact blisters unruptured, apply sterile non-adherent dressing. - First-aid immediately; change dressing every 2-3 days until healed (7-14 days)
Cool burn with cool running tap water for 20 minutes. Keep child warm during and after cooling to prevent hypothermia, especially in infants.
No labelled dose - a procedure, not a medicine
Immediate tap water cooling for 20 minutes limits thermal tissue necrosis, reduces pain, and speeds wound healing; essential first-line intervention
- Do NOT apply ice, ice water, butter, toothpaste, or home remedies; ice induces microvascular vasoconstriction and worsens tissue necrosis.
- Refer urgently to a burn center if burn involves face, hands, feet, perineum, major joints, circumferential burns, chemical/electrical injuries, or >10% total body surface area (TBSA) in adults (>5% in children).