Remember, remember to take care on 5 November

This advice comes following our work and support with Lancashire Constabulary and Lancashire Fire & Rescue into cracking down on anti-social behaviour and mishandling of fireworks and issuing safety advice in the lead up to Bonfire Night.

Asha Price, a paramedic at Central Manchester Station at North West Ambulance Service said: “Burns can occur at any point when attending a party or event, especially on bonfire night, so it’s really important to remember to stay safe while enjoying yourself. As a paramedic I have been at events where things have gone wrong, including babies grabbing hold of sparklers or children playing with fireworks. It’s really important to remember that Bonfire Night is meant for fun, but you need to be careful.

“Burns and scalds are usually caused by heat. Burns are caused by dry heat like an iron or a flame and scalds are caused by wet heat like boiling water or steam from a kettle. What you are looking for in a burn or scald is reddening to the skin, maybe small blisters and little bit of pain to the area – it is important to know that these injuries can be treated at home.”

Tops tips to treat a burn at home:

Remove any clothing or jewellery from the burn itself unless it is stuck to your skin
You need to run it under lukewarm water to cool the burn or scald down – do this for approximately 20 minutes
Use fresh cling film to wrap around the burn or scald, this helps to protect it from infection
Take paracetamol or ibuprofen for the pain
Watch how Asha explains how to treat burns and scalds in the video below.

Asha added: “I’ve seen people put butter on their burns, Vaseline and even instant coffee, please stick to lukewarm running water to treat your burn.”

If you need further advice, contact your GP pharmacist, walk-in centre or visit www.111.nhs.uk