How should a medic treat a casualty with severe burn injuries?

The appropriate way to manage severe burn injuries involves cooling the area with running water and then covering the burns with sterile, non-adhesive dressings. This is essential for several reasons. Cooling the burns helps to reduce the temperature of the burned skin, alleviating pain, and, importantly, it minimizes the extent of tissue damage by inhibiting the burn's progression. Ideally, burns should be cooled for at least 10 to 20 minutes.

After cooling, covering the burns with sterile, non-adhesive dressings is important to protect the area from infection and further injury. Non-adhesive dressings prevent the bandage from sticking to the wound, which can cause additional pain and damage when removed. The sterile nature of these dressings helps in reducing the risk of infection, which is a significant concern in burn management.

It's crucial to use an appropriate method for cooling burns, as more extreme measures, such as applying ice directly, can lead to additional tissue damage, worsening the injury. Similarly, leaving burns exposed or covering them with inappropriate materials does not offer the protective benefits needed during initial treatment, which is vital in the management of burn injuries.