Shriners Hospitals for Children Wants Everyone to “Be Burn Aware” Burn Awareness Week Kicks Off Annual Campaign
TAMPA, Florida — Feb. 7–13, 2021, is Burn Awareness Week. During this time, Shriners Hospitals for Children® launches its annual burn awareness and prevention campaign. Since the 1960s, Shriners Hospitals for Children has been a leader in burn care, research and education — and burn injury prevention is a key component in these efforts.
Burn Awareness Week is Shriners Hospitals for Children’s kickoff of a yearlong educational campaign aimed at burn awareness and prevention. Free educational materials, available via the website beburnaware.org, are designed to be a resource for firefighters, teachers, parents and others concerned with the safety and well-being of children.
Building on the theme “Be Burn Aware,” we work to prevent burn injuries in the home, because that’s where most preventable burn injuries occur. Homes are the sites of thousands of burn injuries to children every year, including scalds, fire-related injuries, and even electrical burns.
“The most important point to remember is that many of these types of burns are preventable,” said David Greenhalgh, M.D., chief of burns at Shriners Hospitals for Children — Northern California.
Consequently, educating parents and families about burn injuries and some simple safety precautions they can take is an important part of the mission of Shriners Hospitals for Children.
The burn awareness campaign features two child-friendly characters, Boots and Brewster – a caped, cuddly bear and a googly-eyed teapot – who are featured in activity books for children ages 3-7 and 8-12. The duo leads children through the various rooms of a house, pointing out dangers, and how to easily correct or avoid them. The coloring pages, word searches, cartoons and other activities are designed to grab children’s attention and present the information in a memorable, age-appropriate manner. The campaign also features various tip sheets and fact cards, all available online. Most of the materials are available in French and Spanish.
Shriners Hospitals has also created an animated video, Boots and Brewster: The Burn Awareness
Pair, which kids are sure to enjoy. In the video, available on YouTube.com/ShrinersHospitals, Boots and Brewster take viewers on a fun and educational adventure to help them become more burn aware.
Shriners Hospitals for Children encourages everyone concerned with keeping children safe to visit beburnaware.org for helpful burn prevention tips and information on how to order the free materials.
About Shriners Hospitals for Children
Shriners Hospitals for Children is changing lives every day by providing pediatric specialty care, conducting innovative research and offering outstanding educational programs for medical professionals. Our health care system provides care for children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate, regardless of the families’ ability to pay. Shriners Hospitals for Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and relies on the generosity of donors. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law. For more information, please visit shrinershospitalsforchildren.org.
