Mr Aron Wright¹, Ms Vanessa Diab², Dr Jason  Diab^2,3

¹University Of Nottingham, , United Kingdom, ²University of Notre Dame, School of Medicine, Sydney., Sydney, Australia, ³Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Concord, Australia

Abstract:

Objective:
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedented lockdowns and social distancing measures were implemented in the United Kingdom (UK). General trends showed a decrease in emergency presentations and activity as lifestyle changes resulted in a lower incidence of burns. Our aim was to identify the epidemiological changes in emergency presentation activities for burn injuries in the East Midlands, UK.
Methods:
Patients were identified using the NHS attendance and emergency admissions database from 2019 – 2021. Population data for burn care was extracted and regional information was stratified to understand proportional differences between 2019 -2021 time period.
Results:
There was a 16.5% decrease in emergency admissions in the UK during the time period. The midlands had a 26.6% to 31.4% decrease in major and minor presentations. Total burn care admissions decreased by 15.7% in April to March 2019 /2020 vs 2020/2021 period (5921 vs 4415) with a 71.5% drop in day case episodes. Burn care activity in the outpatient setting decreased by 2.9% with an overall decrease for attendance to clinic appointments (77.67% vs 80.72%).
Conclusions:
The impact of COVID-19 had an overall decrease in burn presentations, but lockdown measures also highlighted concerns for compliance and follow up. Long term population data analysis on the pandemic is crucial to future planning.

Biography:

Aron Wright is a paramedic that works in the East Midlands, United Kingdom. He a particular interest in population medicine and research in burns and trauma.