Everyday Miracles
Burn survivor Boyd Smith says the people at the Arizona Burn Center at Maricopa Medical Center have “something special going on.”
Born with just one leg and no arms, Smith is a can-do individual who has not allowed his shortage of limbs to limit his abilities. As a teen, he rode in junior rodeos, and as an adult, he has worked in landscaping his whole life, first as a laborer and then as a manager.
But in 2012, Smith woke up in the middle of the night and discovered a fire on the porch of his home. After making sure his family was out safely, he spun around to get out and fell through the floor.
The last things he remembers about that evening were his family pulling him out, the fire truck arriving and then being loaded into an ambulance to be taken to a waiting helicopter.
He was in a coma at the Arizona Burn Center for about four-and-a-half months, with 90 percent of his body burned. He was given a 10 percent chance of survival.
The staff at the Arizona Burn Center was amazing, he says, and he credits the physical therapists as the reason he is here today. They have a “special caring approach,” Smith says. “These are people who can take you from that recovery stage to back in life where you need to be.”
EVERYDAY MIRACLES
Smith’s compelling story represents just one of the many everyday miracles performed at the Arizona Burn Center, the only burn center in the state to be verified by the American Burn Association and the American College of Surgeons. The center serves all of Arizona and receives patients from surrounding states and northern Mexico.
The facility, located inside Maricopa Medical Center, has 37 beds, 19 of which can be dedicated intensive care beds, and can expand to 47 beds institution-wide. It is the second largest burn center in North America and is always there for you: It is open and provides burn services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. In 2010, the Burn Center provided care to 947 inpatients and 5,511 outpatient visits.
If you get burned, you need to seek treatment at the Arizona Burn Center, says its founder, attending surgeon and chief of burn services Dr. Daniel M. Caruso (pictured left, second from left). After his surgical residency at Maricopa Medical Center, Caruso completed a fellowship in surgical critical care, trauma and burn at UC Davis.
In 1998, he returned to Maricopa Medical Center to work in the burn unit, which had been founded by Dr. MacDonald Wood in 1965.
His passion had been working with trauma patients, and now he turned his focus to one specific type of trauma: burns.
COMPLEX WOUND CARE
Caruso decided the burn unit should become verified, and he basically drove the process himself. He obtained the book Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient, and had his administrative support person make a list of what needed to happen to make verification possible. The verification process involves multiple visits by the American Burn Association and a rigorous inspection of the facilities. The Arizona Burn Center was verified for the first time in 2000.
Why would you seek care at the Burn Center rather than an emergency room? Caruso notes that among traumatic injuries, burns make up a very small percentage. “Burns are rare events in the emergency room,” Caruso says, “but for the Burn Center, “this is what we do.”
The drama that occurs inside the center is “unbelievable,” says Caruso. He, Burn Center Director Dr. Kevin N. Foster and the rest of their team are accustomed to providing complex wound care, and they utilize the latest technology and methodology. Innovations in bandaging have enabled the team to close off the burn, often eliminating the necessity of skin grafts and healing with little or no scarring. Soon, the Center will acquire a VECTA Distraction machine, which helps both children and adults get through treatments with less pain.
But nothing is more important than the team itself. “An effective burn center requires the most multidisciplinary team there is,” Caruso says. From housekeepers – burn care requires extreme cleanliness – to occupational therapists, social services, specialized nurses and technicians, Caruso says all are necessary to achieve a successful outcome.
BURN NORTH
Part of that team is LouAnne Jones, who began working at Maricopa Medical Center as a nurse in 1993, long before the Arizona Burn Center had been verified. Ten years ago, she became a nurse practitioner, and now she is in charge of what is unofficially called “Burn North,” the top-floor facility where the children are treated and adults are moved as they progress. Typically, there might be 12 to 15 patients in Burn North, but it can accommodate 24 adults and six children at a time.
Over the years, Jones has seen many improvements in burn care. Better ointments are available, as well as better bandages and surgical procedures.
The daily shower or bath necessary to clean the bacteria off the skin can be painful, and Jones and her team plan to incorporate aromatherapy as a calming distraction. Lavender, lemongrass and peppermint oil, she says, are particularly soothing. Jones makes an effort to visit each patient daily, and makes a point to see each on the day of discharge.
Burn North will soon acquire a virtual reality machine, which will be purchased with funds from Maricopa Health Foundation’s Oct. 26 CopaBall. The children –
and sometimes adults –
don goggles, “taking them
somewhere else” while
their wounds are being
cared for.
Left, A burn survivor tests out a Virtual Reality System at the CopaBall.
Helping her is child life specialist Lori Lesueur.
In Burn North, a child life specialist is on hand to help children through the treatment and healing process, and a special treat for a child might be to select a present from a cupboard filled with toys and more.
A SECOND CHANCE
For patients such as Boyd Smith, the Arizona Burn Center is literally a lifesaver. It is a place where miracles really do happen. Every day.
“I couldn’t ask for a better recovery than I had with the Arizona Burn Center,”
Smith says. “I’m blessed, I’m happy. I’m healthy. For whatever reason, I have
another chance at life.”
