🔥 A Force for Health® Standard

The Force for Health
Burn Protocol

An evidence-based framework for burn prevention and awareness — five simple pillars, grounded in the clinical literature and brought to life in partnership with survivors, advisors, and authors.

B·U·R·N·S™ — the five pillars of the FFH Burn Protocol
B
Be Prepared
U
Use First Aid
R
Reach Care
N
Nurture Kids
S
Speak Up

The Force for Health Burn Protocol turns the current clinical and public-health evidence on burns into five plain-language pillars any family, teacher, or community can act on — B·U·R·N·S. It's the shared foundation behind every part of our Burn Prevention & Awareness experience.

Developed in partnership. The Protocol was created by The Force for Health together with survivors, advisors, and authors — including Gayle Petrillo, whose true story in The Accident gives it heart and reach — and is grounded in published clinical research (cited below). It's an educational framework, not a substitute for professional medical care; in an emergency, call 911.
The framework

The five pillars — B·U·R·N·S

Each pillar names the goal, the simple actions to take, and the evidence behind it.

B
Prevent

Be Prepared

Most burns are predictable and preventable. We help households remove the everyday hazards before they cause harm.

Set water heaters to 120°F or lower
Cook on back burners with pot handles turned in; keep a 3-foot kid-free zone
Never carry a hot drink while holding a child
Install and test smoke alarms
Evidence: water at 140°F burns a child in ~5 seconds vs. ~10 minutes at 120°F; scalds from tipped hot liquids are the leading cause of young-child burns. (Palmieri 2024)
U
Cool & Care

Use First Aid

The right first response — done fast — measurably reduces how deep and how large a burn becomes.

Cool the burn under cool running water for ~20 minutes (within 3 hours)
No ice, butter, or toothpaste; remove clothing/jewelry near the burn
Cover with a clean, non-stick dressing and seek care
Grease fire → smother with a lid; electrical fire → cut power first
Evidence: 20 minutes of cool running water within 3 hours reduces burn depth and size (Griffin 2022; Palmieri 2024). This pillar aligns with the validated clinical B.U.R.N.S. burns first-aid mnemonic (Tan et al., 2021).
R
Access

Reach Care

Specialized burn care saves lives — but access is uneven. We help people know where verified care is and when to seek it.

Know and save your nearest ABA-verified burn center
Know the signs that need 911 or a burn-center referral
Understand the hub-and-spoke path from local care to specialized centers
Evidence: over 50% of Americans live 2+ hours from a verified burn center (another ~21% by air); fewer than 40 of ~75 verified centers are pediatric-verified. (Fallat 2026; American Burn Association)
N
Protect the Vulnerable

Nurture Kids

Young children are at the highest risk and the least able to protect themselves. We equip caregivers — and help them recognize when a burn is a sign of harm.

Bath safety: seat kids away from the faucet, test water on your wrist
Never microwave baby bottles; SPF 30+ and shade for little ones
Know the red flags of abusive burns and how to report a concern
Evidence: ~half of pediatric burns occur in ages 1–4; about 1 in 10 pediatric burn admissions involves abuse. (Palmieri 2024)
S
Advocate

Speak Up

Prevention scales when communities act together and leaders can see the gaps. We turn awareness into advocacy and data.

Run or join a smoke-alarm drive with your fire department
Score your county's burn safety and share the gaps that move funding
Share survivor stories to make prevention personal
Evidence: federal burn-disaster planning specifically emphasizes vulnerable populations, including children — a real advocacy and grant hook. (Fallat 2026)
Grounded, not guessed

The evidence base

The framework is ours; the science is published and citable.

Palmieri, T.L. (2024). Initial Pediatric Burn Management: A Practical Guide. Seminars in Plastic Surgery, 38:88–92.
Fallat, M.E., et al. (2026). Current Status of US Children's Burn Care and Opportunities for Change. Annals of Surgery Open, 1:e641.
Griffin, B., et al. (2022). 20 minutes of cool running water first aid — systematic review & meta-analysis. Australasian Emergency Care, 25(4).
Tan, H.M.G., et al. (2021). A simple mnemonic, B.U.R.N.S., for burns first aid. Burns (journal).
American Burn Association. Prevention resources & burn-center referral criteria. ameriburn.org
World Health Organization. Burns fact sheet. who.int

Developed in partnership

Great prevention is personal. The Protocol comes alive when it's carried by people with a story worth hearing — survivors, advisors, and authors who help families see themselves in it. The Force for Health brings the framework and the tools; our partners bring the story, the expertise, and the community.

🛡️

The framework & the tools

The evidence-based B·U·R·N·S framework, an interactive experience, Reality Health Games, a county Score Card, and a caring coach team.

❤️

The story & the trust

Our partners bring lived experience and a voice families already listen to — the human reason people lean in and act.

🤝

Delivered together

A co-created, co-branded experience that carries the message further — to the families and communities who need it most.

Partner spotlight

Gayle Petrillo, author of The Accident, is our founding Burn Protocol partner — her true burn-survival story anchors the module and carries the Official FFH Partner badge.

The protocol in action

How the module delivers B·U·R·N·S

Every asset maps back to a pillar.