Burns
A child receives medical attention at the burns unit of the Association Pro Burned Children of Nicaragua (APROQUEN) Hospital in Managua October 7, 2013. According to APROQUEN, at least 141 children, 75 percent of whom are under 5-years old, have been hospitalized so far this year for hot liquid burns occurring in the kitchens of their homes. Picture taken October 7, 2013. Reuters

A sixteen-month-old toddler suffered from significant burns after she poured hot boiling cooking oil on herself in her home in New South Wales. She suffered severe burns on her face, neck, chest, abdomen and upper legs.

According to Sydney Morning Herald, the incident happened near Richmond in Agnes Banks on Nov 5 at about 7:30 pm. The newspaper wrote that it was understood that the hot oil was in a pot resting on a tea towel. The towel was kept on a kitchen bench.

When the toddler grabbed the tea towel, the hot oil fell on her and injured her severely. The CareFlight rapid response trauma team was immediately called to her home just a little while after the incident took place. The New South Wales Police as well as the New South Wales Ambulance was also present at the place of the incident, according to a media release by CareFlight.

A spokeswoman for CareFlight said that after landing at the toddler's home, a CareFlight doctor and paramedic started off pre-hospital treatment to help treat the burns that the child was suffering from. She added that the toddler had been airlifted to the Children's Hospital at Westmead in a serious condition but was stable. Her mother is said to have been airlifted along with her.

According to a paper by the World Health Organisation, burns that are caused due to hot liquids are called thermal burns. The World Health Organisation Global Burden of Disease estimated for 2004 that about 310,000 people had died due to fire-related burns and 30 percent of the deaths involved those below the age of 20. It was found that fire-related burns were the eleventh leading cause of death in children who were aged between one and nine years.

It also went on to say that children were at a higher risk of dying from burns and the global rate was at about 3.9 deaths for every 100,000. The report also mentioned that among all the people in the world, infants have a higher mortality rate due to burns.