Grant: Network Catalyst Grant: Skin Research

Serious burns are life changing and can result in significant scarring and long term difficulty in returning to family, work and society. In addition to pain and disfigurement, mental illness can also result from burn injury including depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. Burn injuries cause significant inflammation and changes in the body that increase the risk of infection. Burn injured patients post significant challenges in health care professionals and the health care system due to the complexity of injury, care, and the overall cost of burn care. For example, in 2009, 1.8 million dollars was spent on burn related care in Manitoba alone. While there are many excellent burn care centers in Canada that provide care and conduct research, these centers work separately without regular meetings or sharing of information. Each center is willing to work with the others, but there is not an organized structure or foundation that can foster communication and collaboration. In March 2011, a group of Burn care and research experts met to discuss the priorities for burn care in Canada. The main recommendation in the working group's report was the establishment of a national burn network in Canada. In order to address this gap and improve clinical burn care and research, Advancement of Burn Care Network (ABCN) was proposed. Such a network can improve clinical burn care and research in exciting ways that are not achievable by centers working individually. By helping centers and care providers share information and ideas, the network can help identify the best care for the burn patient and those areas where there is not enough information to decide on best practice.