Burn Care + Emergency and Trauma
MUSC Health earns elite American Burn Association verification
The South Carolina Burn Center
You don’t need to travel far to get advanced burn care.
Burns are complex wounds requiring delicate and skilled treatment. Patients from around the region turn to the burn specialists at MUSC Health for innovative, specialized, and compassionate care in our 25-bed Burn Center.Why choose MUSC Health?
Our burn care experts treat burns of all types. Patients of every age and body type can get the advanced, specialized burn care they need right here in South Carolina.
Advancing Burn Care & Treatments
Burn care expertise: Our burn care specialists are award-winning, recognized experts in burn care. We treat all burns, from routine to complex, with a focus on getting you or your loved one back to daily activities as soon as possible.
Leading-edge treatments and burn research: We're leading the way in burn care research and advanced burn treatments. We take part in clinical trials testing new treatments and technologies. Our burn center was the first in the nation to report performing a minimally invasive skin graft treatment instead of traditional skin graft surgery.
Advanced features: Our burn center features radiant panels that heat rooms to more than 90 F for patient comfort. We also have a hydrotherapy room that makes cleaning burn wounds easier and more comfortable.
Specialty equipment: We use special equipment such as lasers to reduce scarring from burns. Telemedicine technology helps doctors make burn care decisions when patients are in another location.
Team approach: Our expert burn care team includes fellowship-trained surgeons and advanced practice providers, including nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs). Occupational and physical therapists, dietitians, pharmacists, social workers and psychologists are also part of our specialist team.
Personalized Burn Therapy
We begin by using our state-of-the-art hydrotherapy room to clean burns and prevent infection. We assess wounds quickly and accurately to begin your treatment right away. Your treatment might include specialized dressings and wound care products, skin substitutes or a skin graft procedure.
Our experts determine the best approach to healing burn wounds as part of your individualized, comprehensive care plan. These care approaches might include specialized dressings and wound care products, skin substitutes or a skin graft procedure.
We use minimally-invasive, leading-edge techniques to limit the need for surgery, including:
NexoBrid™: Certain patients may be eligible for a research study which uses an enzyme from pineapple stems to remove burns without harming healthy skin.
Recell®: Our surgeons make a skin cell spray that can be used instead of a traditional skin graft for certain burns. This decreases pain and time in the hospital.
Skin Graft Procedures: Our expert burn surgeons take healthy skin from one part of your body and move it to the burned areas. We typically use a skin graft for large burns or deep burns on visible parts of the body, such as the face.
Nutritional Support: Our expert dietitian ensures your body maintains the right balance of nutrients and energy that burn wounds need to heal.
Burn Rehabilitation: Burn injuries affect the way you move and function. Our occupational and physical therapists use their burn care expertise to develop holistic rehabilitation plans to help you stay independent. We work with you during your hospital stay and in our outpatient burn clinic.
Psychological & Social Support: Our psychologists and social workers understand that healing from burn injuries can be challenging. That's why we focus on treating the whole person. Our specialists are here to support you as you heal and help you get back to who you were before the injury.
Pediatric Burn Care
Our pediatric burn specialists care for children ages 15 and under in the state-of-the-art pediatric burn center at the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital (SJCH). Our dedicated team of providers, including pediatric burn surgeons, specializes in burn care for children.
Our comprehensive care team
Our trained specialists focus on providing patient-centered care. We don’t only treat the burn — we treat you. Our specialist team includes:
Burn surgeons: Fellowship-trained burn surgeons with critical care experience and surgical expertise evaluate burns and develop treatment plans. Our nationally recognized burn center director has received numerous awards for burn research and contributions to the field of firefighter safety. And the director of our pediatric burn program is a leader in burn telemedicine. He received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to study an innovative “long-distance” burn care platform.
Expert nurses: Nurses trained in burn care oversee healing and assist with care. Our Burn Center program manager, an expert burn nurse, earned the American Burn Association’s 2019 Curtis P. Artz Award for a career of distinguished service in burn care.
Occupational therapist: Burn injuries can make some daily activities challenging. Our occupational therapist, trained in burn rehabilitation, works to help you regain function and get back to your life.
Physical therapist: Burn wounds can lead to scarring, making movement difficult. Our physical therapist, trained in burn rehabilitation, develops a comprehensive treatment plan to help you maintain your independence.
Pharmacist: A pharmacist helps develop an individualized care plan, considering your unique medication needs while recovering from a burn injury.
Dietitian: Burn wounds need calories, proteins and vitamins to heal correctly. Our dietitian monitors your daily food intake, making sure your body has the nutrition it needs to heal burn wounds.
Recent news from our burn center.
Preventing burns and understanding burn care
Burns can happen anytime, anywhere. If you or a loved one experiences a burn, get the wound checked right away. Our burn care specialists at MUSC Health are experts in assessing and treating all burn types.
Burns are injuries to the skin. Some burns cause minimal skin damage, while others are more severe. Doctors classify burns by categories known as degrees:
First-degree burn: Impacts only the epidermis, or skin’s outer layer. Usually heals quickly and doesn’t necessarily need expert medical attention.
Second-degree burn: Affects the epidermis as well as the dermis, the next layer of skin. Requires medical attention and may leave a scar.
Third-degree burn: Involves both the dermis and epidermis and damages tissue beneath the skin. Requires treatment, such as a skin graft.
Fourth-degree burn: Affects the fat layer beneath the dermis and epidermis. Requires treatment, with healing depending on burn severity.
Fifth- and sixth-degree: More severe burns that affect muscle and bone. These types of burns can be life-threatening. Survivors benefit from medical treatment and ongoing rehabilitation.
Our burn treatment experts specialize in treating complex burns. If you or someone else experiences a burn injury, inspect the skin.
Seek medical help if the:
- Burn is about the size of your hand’s palm or larger.
- Affected skin looks blackened or white.
- Burned skin forms a blister.
Watch for signs that a person might be going into shock and seek medical attention if you notice:
- Dizziness
- Fast breathing
- Cold skin
- Lots of sweating
Some common causes of burns include:
- Fire or open flame
- Boiling water or steam (known as scalding)
- Heated implements, like irons, curling irons or hair straighteners
- Electricity, including electrical cords, outlets or lightning
- Chemicals, such as household cleaning products
- Cooking products, like grease and oil
Important safety steps for your home:
- Check smoke detectors: Make sure each level of your home has a working smoke detector. Change the batteries twice a year.
- Adjust water heater: The temperature should be no higher than 120 F.
- Stay away from open flames: Maintain a safe distance from backyard fire pits, indoor fireplaces and other open flames.
- Keep out of reach of children: Be careful around matches, lighters and fireworks as well as hot foods and liquids, such as coffee or tea.
- Allow hot items to cool: Make sure items like irons and curling irons are cool before touching them. Watch any nearby children while you’re using these items or while they’re still hot.
- Use care when cooking: Turn pot handles toward the back of the stovetop while cooking, so people don’t knock into them. Be extra careful when cooking with hot grease or oil.
