Improvements in burn care, 1965 to 1979.

Data from the National Burn Information Exchange indicate that the quality of burn care in the United States is improving in the participating health care facilities. Case reports of 37,442 patients collected between 1965 and 1979 from 120 burn care facilities have been examined. These data show that overall survival rates are increasing and hospitalization times are decreasing at all levels of burn severity. The changes are associated with a trend toward more timely wound closure for full-thickness burns and are evident in the majority of hospitals studied. Tables of current survival rates and hospitalization times, by patient age and size of burn, are presented.