Severe Burns from Alcohol-Induced Barbecue Fires: A Warning from Naples' Cardarelli Hospital

There are three patients in the intensive care unit for severe burns at the Cardarelli hospital in Naples due to injuries caused by the combustion of alcohol used to light a barbecue. Two young patients from Naples and Sorrento have burns covering 30% and 20% of their bodies, respectively. A third person is being transferred from the hospital in Aversa at this time. The youngest of the burn victims is 18 years old. In recent days, the hospital had launched a campaign to raise awareness about the high risk associated with the use of alcohol for lighting fires on Easter Monday. In fact, about 30% of admissions to the Burns Unit each year are caused by the careless use of ethyl alcohol. 'In the most severe cases, these wounds can be fatal; always, however, they cause pain and indelible scars,' the doctors at Cardarelli had reminded in their preventive appeal.