One year ago today, San Diego County was engulfed in flames. The 2007 wildfires eventually killed ten people. Many more suffered serious burns. Since then, San Diego County's only burn center has purchased a new piece of equipment. It's designed to improve recovery for people who suffer facial and neck burns. KPBS Health Reporter Kenny Goldberg has the story.
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(Photos by Kenny Goldberg/KPBS)
Inside the intensive care unit at UCSD's Burn Center, a patient clings to life. This patient has been severely burned. He's on a respirator, and is in a medically-induced coma
Julio Vargas was in a similar state last year. On May 30th 2007, Vargas was working with an injection molding machine. It suddenly exploded, burning his hands, chest, and face. He was put into a coma for a month. He later had skin grafts, and numerous rehab sessions.
Vargas says things are finally looking up.
Julio Vargas: Before I couldn't move my hands. Now I can move my hands pretty good. I get some treatment over here. They've been helping me out for my scars on my face.
To help heal his facial burns, Vargas was originally given a silicone face mask, covered by a pressure garment that looks like a ski mask.
Vargas says it didn't fit very well, and it's really painful.
Vargas : Oh, it feels terrible, especially on my lips, because I got problems with my lips. Usually I wear it like two hours, and then I take it off, and then I try to wear it more time but it wasn't enough.
A few months into his rehab, Vargas got a much better mask.
After last year's wildfires, the local philanthropic group called Las Petronas gave the burn center a special donation. UCSD used the money to buy a new device called the Total Contact system .
It uses digital imaging to design a clear plastic mask that's custom fitted for each patient.
Vargas says his new mask looks pretty natural.
Vargas: So it doesn't bother me that much. It help me a lot. Including the scar, it started feeling like it is getting smaller every time.
Dr. Bruce Potenza: Patients who have facial burns will essentially be wearing their injury for the rest of their life. So trying to get the best looking esthetic outcome is a prime goal for us.
Dr. Bruce Potenza heads up UCSD's Burn Unit.
He says anything that can help burn survivors look better is a big plus. And he says it's also crucial to give patients the best functional outcome, too.
Potenza: So they have good movement of the eyelids and of the mouth and of the nose. And if this mask can help get those results, and I think that it can, this is really an advancement for the patients, for the rest of their life.
Alison Helm is the lead occupational therapist on the burn unit. She describes how the Total Contact system works.
Alison Helm: There's a central panel with a seat on it, where the patient comes in and sits, and there's some mechanisms where we line the patient up exactly the way we want them. And then there's a box, it has several mirrors in it, that we've been instructed never to touch and never to clean with Windex, and the box rotates around the panel, while the patient is sitting on it.
When the scan is complete, Helm brings up a three-dimensional-like image of a patient's face on her computer screen. She can rotate the image, and zoom in to show the smallest detail.
Helm: Now the view that we usually use, shows all of the crevices and raises of the face. And we use this, to know exactly where the pressure needs to be on the mask.
All of the data is emailed to a manufacturer in Ohio. And in a couple of weeks, the mask comes back ready to wear.
Because they're clear, patients don't mind wearing them in public. And doctors say by applying pressure exactly where it's needed, the masks should help reduce scarring.
Each mask costs about $2000. That's cheaper than the old mask.
Even so, most insurance companies won't pay for it.
UCSD uses donations to help cover the cost.
Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
