Burns Registry of Australia and New Zealand Tenth Annual Report

Since July 2017, I have worked as a Research Fellow in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University, on the Burns Registry of Australia and New Zealand (BRANZ). In addition to undertaking research into burn injuries, I assist in overseeing the collection of epidemiological data on all burn patients admitted to BRANZ hospitals. Each year the BRANZ releases a report, which assists in monitoring burn injury incidence and improving our understanding of burn causation.

This is the tenth annual report for the registry, marking ten years of collaboration and cooperation between the two nations. Although I have only been involved with the registry and the Australian and New Zealand burns community for part of this journey, it is fascinating to see how the registry has evolved over the past 10 years.

The release of this report also coincides with the aftermath of the New Zealand White Island volcano eruption; an event that demonstrates the importance of specialist burns units in responding to mass casualties and the value ongoing clinical collaborations can bring in identifying best practice burn care in every circumstance. You can read more about the challenges faced by burn clinicians in the wake of the eruption on page 24 of the January/February edition of SurgicalNews, a publication from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

The complete Annual Report is made available to the public and can be downloaded freely from the BRANZ website.