Jaipur: Burn specialists at a national workshop in Jaipur Saturday called for standardised protocols and stronger preparedness to handle mass burn casualty incidents, stressing the need for rapid, specialised care.The two-day National Academy of Burns-India West Zone Burn CME 2026 began at SMS Medical College’s New Academic Block Auditorium, with around 200 participants from Rajasthan and other states. The discussions come 21 months after the Bhankrota tanker tragedy, in which at least 21 people died and SMS Hospital treated several victims.Experts discussed advances in chemical and mass-casualty burn care, emergency management, early tangential excision and grafting, paediatric burns, airway assessment, critical care, enzymatic debridement, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, microsurgical reconstruction and limb salvage. High-voltage electrical burns, dermal matrices and complex post-burn reconstruction were also covered.Organising chairman Dr RK Jain, head of plastic surgery at SMS Medical College, said SMS Hospital, Rajasthan’s apex burn referral centre, receives severe cases from across the state and neighbouring areas and regularly handles mass burn casualty incidents.He said the rising patient load, complex reconstruction needs and long-term rehabilitation requirements underline the need for a dedicated Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery at SMS Hospital. The institute could integrate acute burn care, reconstruction, rehabilitation, skin banking, training and research.Jain welcomed the state govt’s budget announcement to establish seven ultra-advanced regional burn care centres. He said developing SMS Hospital as an apex centre would support these facilities through specialist referrals, training and technical guidance.Experts also stressed skin banking, infection control, sepsis prevention, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, scar management and psychological support for burn survivors.Burn and plastic surgeon Dr Sangeeta Thukrani said CME aimed to bring newer scientific techniques into clinical practice and improve awareness about skin donation and preparedness for mass burn emergencies.
