The hospital I work at has one of the best burn trauma centers in eastern Pennsylvania and W. Virginia. Needless to say we see a lot of burn patients in the OR. Most of them are tragic and needless accidents, but some are pretty eyebrow lifting. For example I saw a young man last week with around 22% total body surface area (TBSA) burns of his face arms and chest. During my preoperative evaluation I managed to ascertain that he was involved in an explosion. His story: “my cigarette rolled away and ignited my dynamite…..” As you can imagine I was a little dumbstruck. I quickly regained my composure and finished the exam. Afterward I was left scratching my head and wondering what a young guy was doing with dynamite. Even better, why was he smoking around it? I never asked. Sometimes it’s better not to know.
As a medical student we would see a lot of patients with burns only to the back of their bodies, including back of their head arms and legs. I once asked why we see these patients occasionally. One of the senior physicians answered with a knowing smile, “those are mostly people who operate illegal drug labs.” How do you know I asked. “Because frequently they are running away from their labs when they are about to explode.” he replied. It’s a strange strange world out there.
