Burn Institute Here Is Organizing On National Basis

The Ann Arbor-headquartered Institute for Burn Medicine is now organizing on a national basis to spearhead a nationwide drive to reduce the number of deaths and life-long debilitating injuries from burns, Dr. Irving Feller, institute president, announced today. Dr. Feller, head of the burn unit at University Hospital, said the shortage oí treátment centers, of physicians, nurses and technologists specially trained in burn patiënt care, and lack of standardization in treatment led to organization of thé institute. Presently located at 200 N. Ingalls, the institute will pattern itself after such organizations as the National Kidney Foundation and American Cáncer Society, with a nation-wide fund drive tentatively scheduler1 jtr next f all. The new organization expeets to move its headquarters to more spacious facilities in Arm Arbor sometime in the future. Dr. Feller, the institute's founder and director of the National Burn Information Exchange, said-more than 2 million people are burned each year in the U.S., some 75,000 of whom are hospitalized with serious burns, with more than 12,000 deaths resulting. However, about 90 per cent of all burn patients do not receive the quality care they need, he estimated. Despite a growing fund of knowledge about burn treatment and medical and technologieal advances which aid such treatment, care of the burn patiënt has progressed only in a few places around the country. At present there are only 15 burn centers in the entire nation, including the one at the U-M Medical Center, none of the country 's schools of nursing have specialized programs in intensive care of burn patients, and physicians trained in that area are few and far between, he said. The institute will start in the near future to raise funds and enlist help to implement a series of six action programs I to aehieve its goal of providing the best care known for burn patients throughout the country. These programs are as follows: 1) "Training: A professional development program to train more physicians, nurses and technologists in new and better methods of managing, caring for and assisting the burn patient's return to normal life. 2) "Facilities: Help communities establish the burn care facilities they need by providing information consultation and initial funding. This plan's goal is to assure all hospitalized burn patients throughout the nation the kind of care that is presently. unavailable in a major number of localities. 3) "Prevention of Burn Accidents: This program's objective is to make more people aware of the causes of burns and inform thetn about prevention. A vast amount of information has been collected and should be made available to the public. 4) "Research: A National Resource Center to provide funds for those searching for more knowledge about the complexity of burn injuries, for new and better equipment and techniques, and for improved surgical procedures. 5) "An International Library: This library would make available pertinent information to professionals throughout the world, thereby helping bring about higher levéis of treatment and care for all burn patients. 6) "The NBIE Program: The National Burn Information Exchange (NBIE) has been in operation since 1965. Participating hospitals exchange information about patients and treatments. Such information helps each hospital improve its own burn care program." Officers and board members of the institute, in addition to Dr. Feller, are Merritt D. Hill of Bloomfield Hills, board chairman; Dr. George H. Koepke, U-M professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation, vice-president; John B. DeVine, Ann Arbor attorney, secretary; and Dr. Marión S. DeWesse of Columbia, Mo., Dr. Reed O. Dingman, local plastic surgeon; Charles Hill of Chula Vista, Calif . ; and Dr. George Lowry of Davis, Calif., and formerly of Ann Arbor, all board members. The need for such a non-profit organization is emphasized by the fact that only 80 of the 6,000 acute care hospitals in the United States are capable of providing advanced care and treatment for burn patients. Of these, only 32 have tH capacity to treat severely burned patients and only 15 have the staff and facilities to do the job that needs to be done in teaching and research as well as patiënt care, according to Dr. Feller. Burns are one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., ranking third as the most eommon cause of death from accident. Half of those who die in hospitals as a result of burns are children. Chartered in 1968 under Michigan law, the institute since that time has been involved in the National Burn Information Exchange (NBIE) since that time through a federal grant, but has just now enlarged its program to become a national non-profit organization like the American Cáncer Society, for example, to fund better burn care facilities, training and research.