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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Cooking gas fires and burn awareness



Decades ago we entered the ‘space age’, but on the burn front we are still in the ‘stone Age’ especially in the developing and underdeveloped countries. Our forefathers discovered flint, we discovered petroleum, and natural gas- packed it and marketed it, but did we make it safe to use?

Not really!!+
Every year thousands of children, wives, husbands, fathers and mothers get burnt from cooking gas fires. The most common cause of fire is from a gas leak which catches fire from any source. Thousands are disfigured, mentally destroyed and physically handicapped from burn and undergo severe pain and suffering during years of rehabilitation.

We spend millions trying to make cars run faster, while our roads get smaller and congested as the number of cars on the road increase every year.
Is this logical??
The advent of globalization has its benefits. But price wars on products have led companies to make cheaper products, ultimately compromising on quality. We now use substandard products be it clothing that catches fire or electric wires that burn when the load increase. This trend must stop; quality must be standardized and not compromised if burn injuries and others are to be prevented. Companies involved in this field have a moral responsibility to make their product safe or at least support researches to find ways to make their products safe.

New technologies that will help to reduce burn accidents will need to be developed. We should install Gas leak detectors, smoke detectors and fire detectors in every house or place that use gas for cooking to help reduce the incidence of burns from cooking gas fire.
‘National burn day’ must become an ‘international burn day’. Schools, colleges, universities, shops, companies and all non-essential activities must stop on this day. Each and every individual must realize how burns occur and how it can be prevented.
Political games must rest for this day and for once politicians must join hands and minds and work on burn prevention and burn management strategies. On this day, the senate, the congress, the governors, all politicians and President Obama himself should talk and work only on burns. Burn awareness must culminate in a ‘burn awakening’.
If this is a dream, O God- please let it come true!