A Team Approach to Major Burns -What skills are required to lead a burns team?-

Abstract

During major burns treatment, emergency and intensive care are important for survival because major burns are complex systemic injuries. Wound care and reconstruction are also required to promote survival and increase the patient's quality of life. Therefore, burns teams can include nurses, anesthesiologists, rehabilitation therapists, nutritionists, psychosocial experts, and pharmacists. Wound care surgeons should lead burns teams because the first goal of burns treatment is wound closure. The leaders of burn teams should : 1. be skilled in burn wound closure ; 2. be able to produce an individualized care plan that takes the patient's general condition into consideration ; 3. be able to prevent or deal with predicted complications; and 4. have excellent interpersonal communication skills.