Abstract

Burns are a global public health problem, which include damages to body tissues caused by heat, radiation, chemi- cals, or electricity, and are called scalds if caused by hot water or steam. Burns and scalds can range from a minor injury to a life-threatening emergency that requires intensive care unit admissions and multiple surgical interventions, excision, and skin grafting (1). After a burn injury, pre-hospital care, which includes first aid measures before transfer to a burn center, is considered to be a significantly important step in the process of burn treatment (2). In addition, individuals who receive medical care at a hospital following initial first aid administered at home experience a better outcome (3). Appropriate first aid is an essential part of the immediate medical management of burns, aiming to reduce the severity of the tissue damage and morbidity of burns. However, a small number of burn victims received optimal burn first aid (4). Many nonscientific remedies alone or in combination are lauded by the patients as first aid, from home remedies to natural and folk remedies (5). For example, the common pre-hospital treatments for burns include a wide range of inappropriate products, and potentially harmful first aid such as the application of natural plant therapies, ice, yogurt, oils, honey, raw egg white, tomato paste, or butter are applied directly to the burn surface (6). Many of these traditional remedies are self-perpetuating and generational unless interventional education is provided (7). Additionally, burn surfaces are characterized by high susceptibility to bacterial infections, using these non-sterile substances could potentially introduce contaminants to the wound