US burn specialists perform free surgery on child victims

US surgeons examine a young girl's burned hand. Photo provided by Angel Mon

 

 

 

By Li Zhixin

A group of US surgeons performed free operations on eight child burn victims at Air Force General Hospital (AFGH) last week. The children, ages 2 to 7, came from poor rural families.
 
The procedures involved four US surgeons and their Chinese counterparts. The first operation, on a 3-year-old girl with burnt fingers, took place Wednesday morning.

That afternoon doctors treated a more serious case: a boy with burns covering 90 percent of his body. “The burnt area is very large. To be honest, this procedure is a bit difficult for Chinese doctors because we havn’t done surgery on such a large area before. Our American counterparts have more experience in these kinds of complex operations, so this is a very precious opportunity for us to cooperate and learn from each other,ao Weihong, the director of AFGH’s Burn and Plastic Surgery Center, said.

  The next two days, the doctors re-operated on six patients who did not respond very well to their first surgeries.

“American doctors’ knowdge of pediatric burn injury rehabilitation may be more advanced than that of Chinese doctors because we have years of practical experience. But Chinese medicine is like magic. Some burn ointments I’ve seen were very efective. They not only helped restore a smooth, healthy glow to the damaged skin, but they also helped relieve pain,” James Allan Chamber, a member of the US medical team, said. “This is really a good opportunity fous to learn from our Chinese counterparts.”

The free operation was the first of its kind organized by the American Handreach Foundation and Angel Mom Foundation of the China Charities Aid Foundation for Children (CCAFC). The two groups began cooperating in 2008 when Handreach helped Angel Mom bring two child burn victims to the US for free surgery.

The foundations collaborate on academic exchanges between American and Chinese doctors to enhance their knowledge of pediatric burn injury treatment and rehabilitation. 

“Children left behind by their parents in rural areas are more easily injured because of the lack of parental supervision… Most of these children’s parents are migrant workers, so the children are left to grandparents who ar usually not knowledgeable about safety,” Shen Li, head of Angel Mom, said. “More than half of their injuries are related to bning and scalding.”

Shen said Angel Mom has helped near 40 badly burned children undergo successful surgeries since AFGH’s Burn Center for underprivileged children was established in September 2009.

“We plan to spred advanced knowledge on pediatric burn treatment and rehabilitation to rural hospitals nationwide beginning March, even though we’re feeling the financial pinch,” she said. “We hope more underprivileged children wiburns and scalds can get proper, timely and effective treatment.”

Angel Mom is a volunteer organization founded in 2006 by mothers who wanted to help poor abandoned children and those with complex trauma injuries. To date the foundation has helped more than 400 children and spent more than 1 million yuan on their treatment.

Angel Mom Foundation
Tel: 6871 3796