Soma Dutt's clothes caught fire from a gas stove while she was cooking in 2004. He said he tried to put out the fire on his own after the clothes caught fire. But when the fire could not be brought under control, he started screaming for help.
Her husband was present at the house at that time. He also tried to put out the fire.
"But in that moment, the instantaneous feeling doesn't work. There was water in front of the kitchen. None of us noticed. My husband ran to the bathroom and started pouring water. By then, the fire was burning a lot."
Soma Dutt said 25 per cent of her body was burnt in the fire. Of these, 12 percent had serious injuries.
He said he had to be admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital after visiting at least two hospitals.
However, after the fire broke out, a lot of cold water was poured on his body.
"A lot of cold water was poured to reduce the inflammation and to cool the body. What happened was that the meat was boiled inside," said Soma Dutt.
Not only him, hundreds of people are killed in different types of fires in the country every year.
According to the latest figures from the Fire Service and Civil Defense Department, there were 24,074 fires in the country from January to December 2019. Of these, more than eight thousand houses have caught fire.
At this time 174 people lost their lives in the fire. And 560 people were injured.
How dangerous is the burn?
According to the World Health Organization, 15 percent of the body is burned in adults and 10 percent in children.
However, this measure does not always apply to very young children or newborns and adults. In these cases, even if less than 10 or 15 percent is burned, it can often be fatal.
The greater the amount of burns, the greater the risk of death. It is also related to age. In other words, in the case of older people, a small amount of burns can be the cause of death.
Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery Assistant Professor. Sharmin Akhter Sumi said that in some cases less than 30 percent burns are also dangerous.
"When the burn is very deep, when the patient is very old or very young, if the patient has any other health problems such as blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, those who are very fat, those who have weak immunity, the amount of burns is very high. If not more, the situation will get much worse. "
He thinks the level of danger is also related to how many parts of the body were burnt.
The human body is 100 percent captured. When more than 15 percent of them were burnt, the condition started getting worse. If it is more than 30 percent, there is a need for extended treatment.
If more than 40 percent of the body is burned, the patient is considered critical.
"And if it's more than 80 percent, it's assumed he has no hope of survival."
How is the calculation of burning in the fire?
According to the World Health Organization, the whole body is captured 100 percent to measure burns. After that the different parts are divided into separate parts. For example, keeping the finger open, the palm of the whole hand is held together.
If the burn is small in size, the size of the part of the palm of the hand is calculated.
According to the agency, in the case of adults, the whole human body is calculated as 9 parts or multiples of 9.
In this regard, Dr. Sharmin Akhter Sumi said that in the case of adults, the front and back parts from the fingers to the neck are 9 percent. The front part of the foot is 9 percent and the back part is 9 percent. In other words, 16 percent of the whole leg is caught.
"In medical science there are separate charts for measuring these. These are measured accordingly."
However, in the case of children, this calculation is a little different. The front and back of the children's head are caught in 20 percent. But in adults, 9 percent of the front and back of the head are caught.
What kind of burns are so serious?
How deep a thing burns depends on how long it has been in contact with the fire, what kind of fire it was and what was the temperature of the thing it burned.
These combine burns are divided into three parts. These are-
Contact burn: It is burning with something. Exposure to liquids or solids. Such as burning in hot pots or coins.
Very informative article about fire