In groups vulnerable to burn injury, such as seniors and young children, there are small changes people can make in and away from home which they can implement to reduce their burn risk, said Debbie Karaman, the Burn Prevention Educator at the Grossman Burn Center in Los Angeles.

Area seniors and parents of young children are the focus of a workshop on burn prevention and burn first aid scheduled at the Oakhurst Branch Library from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday, May 27, 2017. The titles of these presentations are “Careful, That’s Hot!” for families and “Burn Prevention for Seniors.”

“During my presentation, I use many examples (verbally and with photos) of patients at our burn center who describe how their burns happened and then we discuss what can be done to prevent them,” said Karaman.
"STORYBOOK STRATEGY - Debbie Karaman, (with book) the Burn Prevention Educator at the Grossman Burn Center in Los Angeles, uses storybooks to help teach parents and their young children about burn prevention." Photo credit: Tanya Sorkin, Chief Program Officer, Children's Burn Foundation

Some areas Karaman addresses are the difference between first, second and third degree burns, the most common burns incurred by small children, burn prevention, accidents and negligence, proper first aid, the physical and emotional scars resulting from burn injuries and smoking, cooking and scalding burns incurred by seniors.

Although Karaman recently moved to our mountain community, she continues to maintain a residence in Southern California where she is employed full-time at the Grossman Burn Center.

“Burns are primarily preventable injuries and the Grossman Burn Center aims to prevent as many as possible, especially in groups vulnerable to burn injury,” she added.

Karaman, who owns four Dachshund mix dogs, said she also refers briefly to pet burn safety in her programs.

“The safety of my dogs is as important to me as preventing burns in the human members of my family,” she noted.

Karaman has a Master’s Degree in Public Health from UCLA and has been a hospital-based community health educator for almost 30 years. She has worked for the Grossman Burn Center, the Children’s Burn Foundation and the Grossman Burn Foundation for eight years.

The free event is sponsored by the Friends of the Oakhurst Branch Library (FOBL). The presentation will be held in the Oakhurst Library’s Community Room located at 49044 Civic Circle Drive. For more information, call the library at (559) 683-4838 or visit oakhurstfobl.com.