Bunyan-Stannard treatment of burns, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, Lambeth, Greater London

Nurses pressing a silk envelope dressing containing lotion on the back of a burns patient. In 1940 Bunyan and Stannard reported the successful treatment of a large infected burn by using a coated silk ‘envelope’ and immersing and irrigating the burn with electrolytic sodium hypochlorite three times a day. This treatment, Bunyan claimed, enabled burns to heal “rapidly and painlessly, with the maximum preservation of function”. It could be used in war, for example in field ambulances and dressing stations, due to its simple method. Bunyan-Stannard irrigation envelopes were issued as part of first aid equipment by the RAF for use by aircrews; the envelopes provided protection from infection in burns, and could be worn whilst continuing active service.

Location

Greater London Lambeth

Period

World War Two (1939 - 1945)

Themes

Tags

medicine health people men women nurse patient