Parkland’s Burn Center achieves re-verification

Posted: 9/9/2015

Recognized for providing quality burn care to patients

Parkland Health & Hospital System has been re-verified as an adult and pediatric burn center by the American Burn Association and the Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons. This achievement recognizes Parkland’s dedication and commitment to providing high quality burn care to patients. Parkland has been a verified burn center since 1996. Parkland is the only verified burn center in North Texas.

Verified burn centers must meet a series of stringent criteria that ensure burn care capability and institutional performance, as outlined by the American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Trauma in the Burn Care chapter of its Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient manual. This spectrum of care extends from the pre-hospital phase through the rehabilitation process.

In a letter from the American Burn Association, Nicole Gibran, MD, FACS and John A. Krichbaum, JD, wrote “We commend the Parkland Regional Burn Center for its commitment to excellence and its commitment to providing quality burn care to its patients.”

Parkland’s burn team has the experience and expertise to treat all types of burns regardless of how severe and complex. For more than 50 years, Burn Center staff has been leaders in the education of the next generation of healthcare providers and has been an engine of clinical research moving the science of burn care forward.

“Parkland physicians and staff were pioneers in the treatment of burns and the center is known world-wide for developing the standard in burn care known as the ‘Parkland Burn Formula,’” said Sue Vanek, RN, Burn Program Manager. “We have staff who has dedicated their entire career to treating patients with burn injuries. We believe that once you are one of our burn patients, you are part of our family.”

But the care and treatment goes far beyond the hospital walls. Rehabilitation experts begin working with burn patients as early as possible to start them on the road to recovery. Outreach specialists work with schools throughout the region to teach students about burn injuries and to help injured youngsters return to school. For nearly 25 years, Parkland has sponsored a week-long camp, Camp I-Thonka-Chi, which is Choctaw for “a place that makes one strong or fearless, not afraid to face life,” free-of-charge for children ages 6 to 18 with burn injuries. And for the last five years a weekend retreat has been held for adults with burn injuries. Both provide a place for them to interact with peers who have experienced similar circumstances.

“We believe that caring for a patient with burn injuries goes much further than the wounds,” Vanek added. “We care for them holistically. And, we don’t just care for the injured – we help the family as well.”

Working in Parkland’s renowned burn unit has been the most rewarding part of her career for Registered Nurse Clare Card.

“I’ve always heard that being a nurse is a ‘calling,’ but being a burn nurse, well, that’s a calling that goes above anything you can imagine, especially when you consider that in order for a patient to heal, they have to endure treatments that are painful at best. I see patients when they are at their most vulnerable, often in critical condition with life-threatening injuries,” Card said. “For some, it can be weeks before they’ve turned the corner and start down the long road to recovery. You try to leave it at the hospital when you go home at night, but you can’t because they’ve become a part of your family.”

Established in 1962, the Parkland Burn Center is the second largest civilian burn center in the nation, providing care to more than 2,200 patients annually. Serving North Texas and surrounding areas, this comprehensive burn center is one of only 62 verified burn centers in North America and provides all services from emergency treatment to intensive care to rehabilitation and outpatient follow-up care.