2/12/2017
Annual Burn Survivor Sunday Reunites Patients and Caregivers
WHAT: Celebrated annually during National Burn Awareness Week, Burn Survivor Sunday provides patients treated at the UPMC Mercy Gertrude P. and Donald C.W. Birmingham Trauma and Burn Center the opportunity to reunite and celebrate their survival with members of their care team, including doctors and nurses. This year’s event marks the golden anniversary of the burn center.
Equipment, capabilities and patient volume have changed dramatically in 50 years. During its first year in 1967, the UPMC Mercy Burn Center admitted 30 burn patients. Currently, more than 350 patients per year are admitted and another 2,500+ are treated as outpatients annually.
The celebration will include visits from a pet therapy dog, a balloon artist, Sparky the Firedog from the Peters Township Fire Department, costumed characters, and arts and crafts.
Former Burn patients also are being recruited for the local chapter of the Phoenix SOAR® program, a hospital-based, one-on-one peer support program that connects people with new burn injuries to survivors and family members who have been impacted by a burn injury.
WHY: Burn Survivor Sunday has been held annually at UPMC Mercy since 1994. An American Burn Association–verified burn center, the UPMC Mercy Burn Center was the first in Pennsylvania, and one of the first in the U.S. In addition, UPMC Mercy is a Level I Regional Resource Trauma Center. The combination of burn and trauma care services under one roof gives UPMC Mercy the unique ability to care for the most critically ill and injured patients.
WHO:
• Approximately 100 burn survivors, their families and the UPMC Mercy Burn Center care team.
• Local fire and EMS representatives.
WHEN: 1 to 3 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 12
WHERE: UPMC Mercy; Sister M. Ferdinand Clark Auditorium, 2nd Floor; 1400 Locust St., Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Note to media: To cover the event, contact Stephanie Stanley at 412-855-8690 or StanleySL@upmc.edu.
