Brother can you spare some skin? New Zealand has ordered more than 1,290 square feet of skin

In order to treat the victims of the volcano eruption, the Government of NZ has ordered over 1200 square feet of human skin from the USA.

Donated skin can either be from the person needed the graft, from another human, or even an animal. In this case the skin ordered is from donors who have elected to donate organs as part of the death process (trauma, brain dead etc). The skin is also classified by its thickness based on the burns.

Unless it is from the person, this is at best a temporary measure as like with organ transplants the body will reject the graft. However, the use of them helps reduce infection and fluid loss.

Thankfully my experience with burns has been limited and Ive seen enough of the to be horrified beyond belief. It takes a special kind of person to staff a burn center.

Interestingly enough this also works on animals and in the recent California wild fires they had good luck treating bears with fish skins

Fish Skin Healed Bears’ Paws Burned in the California Fires

New Zealand has ordered more than 1,290 square feet of skin for volcano victims

Seems Australia would be the best source for them, given geographical location and all that.

But I guess the Ausies have no skin in this game.........

Err. Anyway. What about the rest the of western pacific area.

I guess when it comes to handouts, it's USA all the way on the global stage.

Also, IIRC, doesn't china have a pretty big human meat farm operation going. Skin would seem to be something they usually throw out after harvesting all those organs.

Lord knows they could use the cash as their economy falters due to the losing trade war they are engaged in.

a reply to: MisterSpock

I guess when it comes to handouts, it's USA all the way on the global stage.

Have you seen the price of human skin these days? 1,290 square feet is enough to wallpaper my entire house.

Not all of us can get donated skin. Gas isn’t free, and my van takes a lot of it.

I was in a fire when I was 2 years old and had 3rd degree burns on both legs and backs of my thighs. So I read up on the topic, I thought they were working on growing skin from just a few cells.Heres an article from 2013

www.medicalnewstoday.com...
Scientists grow artificial skin from stem cells of umbilical cord
Search domain www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/269313.phpwww.medicalnewstoday.com...
Nov 26, 2013Scientists grow artificial skin from stem cells of umbilical cord. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were approximately 410,000 burn injuries in the US in 2008, of which around 40,000 required hospitalization. Patients who have suffered severe burns may require skin grafts.

China already took the order. They are sending PigMonkey skin

a reply to: putnam6

Yikes!!! Glad to see you made it.

The closest I came to ever passing out was a kid that came in with 3rd degree burns on his chest. The burned tissue hardens into eschar and is stiff. Due to it covering the entire chest he could not be ventilated. I arrived in the trauma bay as an eager new grad nurse in time to see the the doc take a scalpel and carve a tic tac toe on his chest so it could expand. No pain meds as the nerve ending were burned and there was no time at any rate to give them. The room started spinning and I slid down the wall and took a while to recover. The procedure is call a 'Grid escharotomy" I can still remember my preceptor mocking me as well LOL

He made it home but its stuck with me for the past 25 years.

Yes they are making advances and have grown autolagous skin on pigs, but in this time frame this may be the only thing they can do

originally posted by: visitedbythem
China already took the order. They are sending PigMonkey skin

Actually pig skin and fish skin work on a temporary basis.

This is sad, but please..... step away from the volcano, far far away.

a reply to: Plotusi've seen that island many times it's always billowing smoke i wouldn't step on there for a fortune

a reply to: FredT

Fish skin I believe, is more of a replacement for bandages in the healing process. It promotes re-growth of the skin cells its covering faster than it would beneath regular gauze. I haven't heard of pig skin used before in this way - interesting! I'll have to read into it.

That is just incredibly grim.

I heard somewhere that they can give you a med that will make you forget the debridement and bandage changing process during burn treatment, but that basically means you still suffer through it and so does the staff who won't be privileged to forget it.

originally posted by: Badams
a reply to: FredT

Fish skin I believe, is more of a replacement for bandages in the healing process. It promotes re-growth of the skin cells its covering faster than it would beneath regular gauze. I haven't heard of pig skin used before in this way - interesting! I'll have to read into it.

For sure the talipia skin is new and temporary. A vet had read up on it and used it on bears.

as far as the pigs:

onezero.medium.com...

That is about as much skin there is on fifty people. I didn't think there were that many people burnt there?

originally posted by: rickymouse
That is about as much skin there is on fifty people. I didn't think there were that many people burnt there?

Yeah it seems like alot, but perhaps not all will be viable, some will be rejected quickly etc. But I really have no idea as ive never had to do any of it professionally.

Also I had no idea they had that much surplus skin

On a grim note, not all will survive as infection will get some despite treatment

a good primer
chemm.nlm.nih.gov...

I am versed in the rule of 9's for estimating total body surface area burned as part of my trauma training

a reply to: FredT

I study a lot of food and pharmaceutical science and many diseases, but I never even started into stuff like trauma like that. It is way different than what I study. I suppose that you need to know about that stuff

No real medicine background here, if they can't treat the pain caused by burned nerve endings, can they at least put the patient to sleep, in a coma, or give other newly legal drugs for the pain? This seems inhuman.

On another note, Americans widening girth makes them qualified donors for skin, I would think.

originally posted by: MisterSpock
But I guess the Ausies have no skin in this game.........

tongue in cheek?
More Australian's have died or are missing than any other nationality

There's some pretty horrific reports...

people were horribly burnt but their clothes were intact and without damage
peoples internal organs are burnt to a significant degree
the toxic fumes and sulfur breathed in by these people will affect them horribly
apparently they're going to be in pain and might still not survive for weeks to come

It must be beyond words being a nurse or doctor helping these people.. just amazing people.. they dont get the recognition they deserve.

originally posted by: MisterSpock
Seems Australia would be the best source for them, given geographical location and all that.

But I guess the Ausies have no skin in this game.........

Err. Anyway. What about the rest the of western pacific area.

I guess when it comes to handouts, it's USA all the way on the global stage.

I'm happy to donate skin. Much as it takes as any other aussie's would. Dunno where you get your info from. Oh, hangon, you're just joking as usual aren't you. Sorry donors, got sucked in, good one Spock!

Kind regards,

Bally

originally posted by: FredT
a reply to: putnam6

Yikes!!! Glad to see you made it.

The closest I came to ever passing out was a kid that came in with 3rd degree burns on his chest. The burned tissue hardens into eschar and is stiff. Due to it covering the entire chest he could not be ventilated. I arrived in the trauma bay as an eager new grad nurse in time to see the the doc take a scalpel and carve a tic tac toe on his chest so it could expand. No pain meds as the nerve ending were burned and there was no time at any rate to give them. The room started spinning and I slid down the wall and took a while to recover. The procedure is call a 'Grid escharotomy" I can still remember my preceptor mocking me as well LOL

He made it home but its stuck with me for the past 25 years.

Yes they are making advances and have grown autolagous skin on pigs, but in this time frame this may be the only thing they can do

Oh my goodness I can only imagine the stuff you have seen.
Nurses have so much to deal with daily, its definitely an under-appreciated career. I'm lucky I was young enough I don't remember a lot of it, but it put my parents through the wringer. They took skin grafts from the front of my thighs and my Dads back.

I heard about the fish skin on the bear paws. Medical science is amazing, IIRC they have also developed for lack of a better word an air bed where it keeps the burn patient from putting as much pressure on their wounds while in recovery.