Doctors at St. Elizabeth’s Burn Unit in Lincoln have seen a very concerning and alarming trend in the past six weeks. “We’ve seen eight patients admitted to our burn unit for injuries related to smoking while on oxygen,” says Dr. Ed Rivera, a burn surgeon. “Burns to the face, head and neck, burns to the inner lining of the nose, mouth and throat.”
Rivera says the burns range from first to third degree and two of the eight patients they treated died from their injuries. “It’s a dangerous combination that we’re hoping raise awareness about so patients may reconsider this behavior.”
In the last two years the burn unit saw 8-10 total injuries of this nature. They have now seen two year’s worth of patients in just six weeks. Rivera says they can’t pinpoint exactly why they have seen an increase in these types of burns, but more people may be on oxygen now as a result of COVID-19 and that could be playing a role.
Rivera says smoking while hooked up to oxygen can have catastrophic consequences. “You have the potential for injuring not only yourself but friends, family members, burning down the house.” All eight people they treated were smoking cigarettes when they were injured, but Rivera says vaping instruments can also ignite a fire and cause injury.
Rivera says they are stressing awareness and prevention in an effort to prevent more injuries and deaths. “This could not be a more dangerous combination, but at the same time this seems like one of the more preventable injuries we see.”
Dr. Ed Rivera