Background Most pediatric burn injuries are preventable. Social media is an effective method for delivering large-scale messaging and may be useful for injury prevention in this domain. Objective This study evaluates the feasibility of creating a social media campaign for pediatric burn injury prevention. Methods Ad spots containing a headline, short introduction, and video were created and posted on Facebook and Instagram over 4 months. Ad spots were targeted to parents and caregivers of children in our region with the highest number of burn injuries. We assessed the impact of each ad set using ThruPlays, reach, and video plays. Results We created 55 ad spots, with an average length of 24.1 (range 10-44) seconds. We reached 26,496 people during the campaign. The total ThruPlays of the 55 ad spots were 14,460 at US $0.19 per ThruPlay. Ad spots related to home safety had a significantly higher daily ThruPlay rate than those related to fire safety (6.5 vs 0.5 per day; P<.001). Conclusions Social media is a feasible modality for delivering public health messages focused on preventing pediatric burn injuries. Engagement with these ads is influenced by ad presentation and the focus of the underlying injury prevention message.

Background: Inconsistent trauma patient referral feedback limits trauma system growth and may perpetuate suboptimal care. Trauma and burn patients are transferred to our Level I pediatric trauma center from hospitals in the surrounding metropolitan area. In the past, we had no consistent method to address performance improvement opportunities or provide information on patient outcomes to the referring facilities. The purpose of this study is to describe the implementation and evaluation of a formal electronic transfer follow-up program. Methods: This was a before-and-after quality improvement study of pediatric trauma patients comparing prefeedback program implementation (2018) to postfeedback program implementation (2019). A new transfer patient feedback program was designed to address low rates of feedback provided to referring hospitals. Our center worked with a software developer to create a program that stored outside hospital contacts, automated follow-up letters, and tracked the number of letters sent, and opened, to enhance communication between trauma center and referring facilities. Results: A total of 383 preprogram (2018) patients and 369 postprogram (2019) patients were evaluated. Since program implementation, an average of 70% follow-up per referral and an average return rate of 45% have been maintained. Conclusion: As we continue to use the system and make changes, we fully expect to exceed our goal in providing essential feedback on the care of pediatric trauma and burn patients to our referring facilities.

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BackgroundCurrent methods of burn estimation can lead to incorrect estimates of the total body surface area (TBSA) burned, especially among injured children. Inaccurate estimation of burn size can impact initial management, including unnecessary transfer to burn centres and fluid overload during resuscitation. To address these challenges, we developed a smartphone application (EasyTBSA) that calculates the TBSA of a burn using a body-part by body-part approach. The aims of this study were to assess the accuracy of the EasyTBSA application and compare its performance to three established methods of burn size estimation (Lund-Browder Chart, Rule of Nines and Rule of Palms).MethodsTwenty-four healthcare providers used each method to estimate burn sizes on moulaged manikins. The manikins represented different ages (infant, child and adult) with different TBSA burns (small <20%, medium 20%–49% and large >49%). We calculated the accuracy of each method as the difference between the user-estimated and actual TBSA. The true value of the complete body surface area of the manikins was obtained by three-dimensional scans. We used multivariable modelling to control for manikin size and method.ResultsAmong all age groups and burn sizes, the EasyTBSA application had the greatest accuracy for burn size estimation (−0.01%, SD 3.59%) followed by the Rule of Palms (3.92%, SD 10.71%), the Lund-Browder Chart (4.42%, SD 5.52%) and the Rule of Nines (5.05%, SD 6.87%).ConclusionsThe EasyTBSA application may improve the estimation of TBSA compared with existing methods.

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