Rehabilitation Equipment
The provision of equipment to the Burn Care Services is important because it covers 3 main areas:
- The simple issue of burns dressings, pressure garments and occupational therapy items to do with day-to-day care.
- The provision of equipment to distract a child whilst they undergo often excruciatingly painful procedures during routine treatment and physiotherapy.
- The third area is concerned with ward based equipment which is solely and exclusively for use within the Burn Care Services because of the need to maintain infection control.
The first two of these are directly related to rehabilitation and we aim to assist burns services in the provision of this equipment.
Some examples of rehabilitation equipment
- Bubble machine
- Diversional technological equipment for distraction (Nintendo Wii and TV monitor (flatscreen) + games/sports)
- Burns puppets for outreach trips to schools
- Finger puppets
- Music/CDs
- DVDs (especially exercise/dance)
- Children’s stories/spoken stories
- Soothing/relaxation music/nature sounds
- Giant floor games
- Gymnastic Ribbons
- Projector with visual slides
- Coloured zips & thread/cotton, decorations, fabric pens for pressure garments
Rehabilitation Menu
“The NHS funds essential equipment for patient care, however charities offer much needed support for equipment that would greatly improve a child’s experience in hospital after suffering a burn injury. There are many example of how charities could or have helped us improve the care we provide such as funding computer equipment and software to help entertain, distraction gadgets for painful or unpleasant procedures, specialist paediatric physiotherapy equipment to aid rehabilitation, and colourful bespoke pressure garments to treat scarring”
Greg Williams FRCS FRCS(Plast)
Burns Service Lead Clinician and Service Director,
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust,
London and South East of England Burns Network Clinical Director
