Managing Paediatric Burns: New KKH Burn Centre Supports Faster, Integrated Care

The new paediatric burn centre at KKH expands capacity and streamlines care to support timely management and improved infection control.

KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) has launched Singapore’s first dedicated paediatric Burn Centre, enabling children with burn injuries to receive more timely and integrated care.

It is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of plastic surgeons, nurses and allied health professionals, offering a full continuum of care from acute treatment to rehabilitation.

INTEGRATED BURN CARE FOR CHILDREN

The KKH Burn Centre incorporates design features to improve care efficiency, infection control and patient comfort.

Consultation rooms connected to treatment rooms

For seamless care from assessment to treatment enhancing infection control and emergency response.

Dedicated procedure room

Designed for burn cases but adaptable for nonburn mass casualty incidents, strengthening overall emergency response capacity.

Specialised shower bed

Enables single-location wound cleaning and drying under general anaesthesia reducing the need to move patients between rooms, minimising infection risks and alleviating stress, fear and anxiety for children and their parents.

Strategic location

Located next to the Children’s Intensive Care Unit (CICU) for rapid access to critical care in emergencies. The CICU features temperature regulated and positive pressure rooms to support infection control in patients with severe burns.

PAIN MANAGEMENT AT THE FOREFRONT

As a ChildKind-certified institution, every touchpoint is designed to be as comfortable, pain-free, and stress-free as possible for paediatric patients and their caregivers, supporting optimal healing. KKH is the first hospital outside North America to receive this international recognition for paediatric pain management.

The KKH Burn Centre features a child-friendly environment, with playful, brightly coloured interiors to reduce anxiety from arrival.

Child Life, Art and Music Therapy Programmes (CHAMPS) are incorporated into care with therapists, using specialised intervention play techniques to help young patients and their families cope with the challenges of burn treatment and hospitalisation and to reduce stress throughout the care journey.

ENHANCED CRITICAL CARE FACILITIES

The new KKH Burn Centre is part of KKH’s ongoing efforts to enhance and expand its services and infrastructure, to future-proof its facilities and ensure scalability of services.

Alongside the centre, critical care facilities including the CICU, Children’s Step-Down Unit (CSDU) and Women’s Intensive Care Unit (WICU) were recently upgraded.

Key enhancements for the intensive care units include:

• Enhanced pressure-controlled rooms for superior infection control, isolating infectious patients while protecting vulnerable patients.
• Switchable privacy glass (“magic glass”) for better hygiene and instant privacy control.
• Specially designed door interlock system with a temporary override button, enabling emergency access while preserving room pressure.
• Pandemic-ready configuration with capabilities for full isolation as a dedicated pandemic zone, complete with essential support amenities.

BURN INJURIES COMMON AMONG LOCAL CHILDREN

KKH treats up to 400 new paediatric burn cases annually – a figure that has remained consistent over the past five years.

Infants and toddlers aged two and below are the most vulnerable group, accounting for half the burn cases. Children aged five to 10 are another high-risk group, making up around 17% of the cases.

In 2024, the top three causes of burn injuries in children, which are all preventable, were:

• Scalds (hot water, soups, and beverages, etc.): 71%
• Contact burns (irons, hair curlers, pot covers, oven doors, etc.): 19%
• Friction burns (treadmills and road traffic accidents): 5%

Early and effective management in the first few hours after a burn injury is critical, influencing both survival and long-term outcomes.