Dedicated Burn Rehabilitation
Burns are highly complex injuries that can have a major impact on functional and quality of life. At the Firefighters Burn Center, every patient has access to an intensive burn rehabilitation program that aims to restore optimal physical function and health in all burn patients.
Our services are designed specifically around the challenges of burn injuries, which differ in important ways from other types of injuries. Burns affect nearly every organ in the body and can cause scar tissue build-up that makes movement difficult. Because of these factors, specialized burn rehabilitation services offer the best change at returning to pre-burn activities.
Rehabilitation beings as soon as possible, led by specially trained burn therapists who stay by a patient’s side throughout every phase and recovery portion of their treatment. By providing cohesive, patient-centered care targeted specifically to burn injuries, we help patients return to independent living at a rate that exceeds national and regional averages. Our patients experience better functional outcomes, fewer major reconstructive surgeries, and faster healing than those treated at other facilities.
Your Rehabilitation Journey
Because patients work with the same burn therapists through their entire continuum of care, we are able to provide services directly tailored to each patient’s unique abilities, needs, and goals. Burn rehab is by nature an intensive process, and our therapists focus on developing authentic relationships that help them motivate and support patients throughout the rehabilitation journey.
Immediate Intervention
Rehabilitation typically begins within 24 hours of injury. Our therapists’ specialized training allows them to work with patients who are still in the burn intensive care unit, even if the patient requires a ventilator, dialysis, multiple IV lines, catheters, etc. Early intervention such as manual stretching, standing, and walking allows patients to reduce reliance on ventilators and other equipment more quickly.
Because a burn impacts nearly every organ in the body, getting patients out of bed and encouraging movement right away is crucial. We help address systemic injury and preserve the strength patients need to heal and engage actively in their own recovery. Patients can expect two to three hours of therapy per day, divided into condition-appropriate intervals.
A Functional Recovery
As patients become stronger, they are able to participate in even longer and more aggressive therapies that improve function, soft tissue extensibility, and overall strength. Patients in our acute care and stepdown units participate in three to five hours of therapy per day, all focused on their individual needs.
For burn patients, movement is most often limited by scar tissue, not orthopedic injury. As burn providers, we use techniques that elongate scar tissue so underlying structures achieve a pre-burn range of motion. We treat not only the burn, but the surrounding area, to restore smooth, gliding movements. At the same time, our team continues to address a patient’s overall health, helping build pulmonary and cardiovascular endurance, core strength, proper body mechanics, and more.
Restoring Independence
As patients overcome the acute phase of their injury, they may need additional rehabilitation to fully regain their pre-burn lifestyle prior to discharge. Our one of a kind inpatient burn rehabilitation program continues with patients on the path to returning to their normal activities. Patients participate in five hours of therapy per day on the specific skills they need for return to work, personal care, sports, hobbies, etc.
Returning Home
A safe and successful discharge and return home is our goal for every patient we treat. We constantly evaluate patients’ discharge options and help with the planning, modifications, and patient and family education required for safe return to the home setting.
When patients are discharged, we encourage them to continue their rehabilitation with us on an outpatient basis. Scar tissue can take up to a full year to mature, so it is important to continue working on elongation activities to maintain adequate and fluid motion. Our outpatient program typically includes two to three hours of therapy per day, depending on a patient’s personal needs.
Your Therapy Team
Our burn therapy specialists are educated via the American Burn Association, based on a rigorous process that requires additional training, education, and patient care experience. We work hand in hand with the burn center’s physician and nursing teams to implement optimal therapy plans, and patients benefit from working with the same providers throughout their treatment.
We approach every patient with not only exceptional expertise, but a desire to listen, encourage, and motivate. This allows us to take a patient-focused approach that evolves with each person’s changing medical and rehabilitation needs. Our therapy team includes the following specialties:
- Burn Rehabilitation
- Physical Therapy
- Occupational Therapy
- Certified Dry Needling Specialist
- Burn Rehabilitation Aide
Our Facility and Technology
Our state-of-the-art facility is located inside the Firefighters Burn Center, creating a comfortable, accessible environment in which rehabilitation can play a role in every step of a patient’s care. We offer the latest technology and equipment designed to improve strength and endurance, promote mobility and function, and provide space to safely practice real-world activities.
Full-service Rehabilitation Clinic
Our facility features the latest equipment and technology for the rehabilitation of burn patients. We offer therapy mats and tables, resistance equipment, treadmill, stationary bikes, upper extremity ergometer, parallel bars, balance equipment, therapy balls, free weights, and more.
Kitchen and Bathroom Facilities
Part of getting patients home safely and efficiently, is ensuring they can complete self-care activities such as cooking, eating, showering, toileting, and getting dressed. Our rehabilitation facility includes a full-equipped kitchen and ADL bathroom where patients work to relearn and practice these skills.
Supportive Equipment
Our therapists are trained in designing and fabricating custom orthotics, splints, garments, etc., to help a patient’s burn-affected areas of the body to facilitate and improve range of motion, and prevent burn scar contractures. These devices evolve with the patient to promote continual progress. While our goal is to help patients accomplish tasks without adaptive equipment, we can also use our expertise to select the proper adaptive technology when needed, and train patients on its use. For patients whose burn injuries require amputation, we also provided pre-prosthetic and prosthetic training and counseling.
Patient Outcomes
Our goal and expectation are that every patient will return to work, hobbies, and independent life. This is a standard we instill in our providers and the patients we treat.
Patients in our program are discharged home at a rate of 90 percent, which is much higher than the national and regional averages. Our patients also have a shorter length of stay than those in comparable facilities. We are able to achieve their benchmarks even though we treat some of the most sever burn injuries as the region’s only full-service ABA verified burn center.
Our intensive rehabilitation approach also means our patients require fewer invasive reconstructive surgeries than those at most facilities. By addressing injuries and scar tissue through early intervention, we help our patients avoid the negative risks and long recovery time associated with major surgical procedures. In many cases, our patients can undergo an outpatient laser procedure instead of an open surgery.
A burn injury does not dictate your life, and it does not define who you are. At the Firefighters Burn Center, our rehabilitation team understanding that every patient is a person with loved ones, interests and goals, and we dedicate ourselves to helping you reclaim what matters to you.