alarm! 90% of burns in children are caused by touching hot objects

According to the Taipei City Government's Department of Health's annual injury analysis report, in 2010, 125% of the victims of unintentional burns and scalds in Taipei City were children aged 0 to 4 years old, and nearly 90% of the causes were due to contact with hot objects. Especially in the winter when the weather is cold and everyone likes to eat hot pot or use electric heaters, parents should pay special attention to the safety of their children at home to avoid burns and scalds.

When eating hot pot, remember to cool it down first to avoid burns to your mouth and esophagus.

What precautions should be taken when eating hot pot to avoid getting burned? When eating hot pot, in addition to not paying attention to the temperature of the food and hot soup and eating them directly into the mouth, causing burns on the surface of the mouth, it may also damage the mouth and esophagus. Generally speaking, the temperature of hot pot soup can be as high as over 100°C, but the heat resistance of the oral cavity, esophagus and gastrointestinal wall mucosa is about 50°C. Too hot food will burn the organ mucosa and cause stomatitis, esophagitis, and gastritis. Especially for patients with recurrent oral ulcers, oral mucosal leukoplakia, lichen planus, etc., cancer may be induced due to the stimulation of high temperature.

Another common type of hot pot burn is an accidental burn caused by burning alcohol ointment. In order to allow consumers to maintain the temperature of the hot pot during the meal, it is quite common for domestic catering operators to ignite alcohol to continuously heat the hot pot, especially for small hot pots such as stinky hot pot and wugengchangwang. If new alcohol paste is added to the remaining fire, the flames will burn back along the fire, which may burn the skin if the response is not timely. In addition, liquid alcohol paste has a low ignition point and is easy to splash and catch fire, which may cause fire and explosion accidents in serious cases.

To avoid burns and scalds caused by eating hot pot, you should let it cool slightly before eating, be careful not to use alcohol ointment improperly, and pay attention to the dining environment. Avoid using tablecloths and plug-in induction cookers or gas stoves to prevent children or adults from accidentally pulling on tablecloths, electrical wires or gas pipes, spilling hot soup and causing burns and scalds.