Did You Know: The South Carolina Burn Center at MUSC Health is the state’s only comprehensive burn center

Here is another reason to be appreciative of our Charleston, South Carolina home: The South Carolina Burn Center at MUSC.

Here is what you need to know:

The South Carolina Burn Center at MUSC Health is the state’s only comprehensive burn center and is one of the few centers in the region. In addition to adult care, we are the only pediatric burn referral center in South Carolina, offering pediatric burn care at the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital. We care for hundreds of children each year in our hospital, emergency department and outpatient locations. We treat all burns, ranging from minor to severe. 

As experts in burn care, we recognize that multiple aspects of a patient’s and families’ life are affected. You and your child will have access to a compassionate team of pediatric burn care trained clinicians and support staff who provide the most advanced care in a specialized environment. 

• Pediatric critical care physicians 
• Emergency medicine doctors
• Burn nurse specialists
• Burn clinical psychologists
• A burn pharmacist 
• A burn nutritionist
• Burn physical and occupational therapists
• Child life specialist
• Social workers
• Additional pediatric trained specialists as needed 
• Telehealth visits by appointment 

Recell®: 
We are very pleased to offer Recell to our patients. 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. Recell helps the burn surgeons cover more surface area of a burned area with less of the patient’s own skin, allowing patients to heal faster with a better cosmetic outcome. We are one of the only pediatric burn centers in the South that provide this new technology to our patients.

Burn Care Support Services

Burn Rehabilitation

Burn injuries affect the way children move and function. Our specialized occupational and physical therapists use their burn care expertise to develop holistic rehabilitation plans that will enable your child to have the best functional outcomes. We work with you during your hospital stay and in our outpatient pediatric burn clinic at the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital.

Psychological & Social Support

Our psychologists and social workers understand that healing from burn injuries can be challenging, particularly in young children and adolescents. This is a unique population that requires specialized support from the moment of the burn injury through surgery and rehabilitation. That is why we focus on treating the whole person. Our psychologists are here to support you as you heal and help you get back to who you were before the injury.

Research

Pediatric burn care at The South Carolina Burn Center at MUSC Health is one of the leading pediatric burn programs in the country. Dr. Aaron Lesher, the pediatric burn medical director, has developed a clinical research program that aims to improve access to burn care for children across the state and region. Because so many of our patients live long distances from the burn center, Dr. Lesher developed a mobile phone app, called TOBI, which helps patients access the burn team when they have left the hospital. Dr. Lesher is studying this new way to access burn experts through a generous grant from the National Institutes of Health.

We are also advancing the practice of pediatric burn care through clinical trials that improve outcomes for these burn-injured children. We offer several multi-institutional trials in burn care that can decrease the need for skin grafting, leading to improved outcomes in burn scar appearance and function. 

Patient Resources

The SC Burned Children’s Fund is a partnership between the MUSC Children’s Health pediatric burn team and South Carolina firefighters. Firefighters and community partners raise funds through aluminum can recycling and special events to provide funds to support children and their families through burn recovery and to promote burn awareness and fire prevention activities in South Carolina.

The SC Burned Children’s Fund also sponsors an annual summer camp for burn-injured children called Camp ‘Can’ Do.

Why choose burn treatment at MUSC Health?

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