Inspire 2024 ANNUAL DONOR REPORT
Straub Benioff: Ready to Respond
It was a night no one will forget. Just an hour into the new year, the Straub Benioff Medical Center Burn Care Unit began receiving calls about a fireworks explosion on Oahu. The team quickly jumped into action.
“Everyone pulled together,” said Amy Chong, Straub Benioff Burn Care Unit supervisor. “Most of the staff had been through the Maui wildfires, so they knew what to do.”
Dr. David Cho was on call for the wildfires in 2023. He was also on duty when the state turned to Straub Benioff’s burn experts for help with the Aliamanu tragedy.
“It was evident from the first calls that something very serious had happened,” Dr. Cho said.
Ten patients from the Aliamanu tragedy went to the Burn Care Unit, which is the most admitted from a single event in the unit’s 42-year history.
Many burn patients face long recoveries. Hospitalizations can last for months, and care often continues even after patients are discharged. Physical and psychological therapy and rehabilitation may be needed, as well as additional surgeries.
“Treating burns is complex,” said Dr. Robert Schulz, Burn Care Unit co-founder and medical director. “Burns are a very unique type of trauma.”
This expert care requires specialized equipment. Donations have provided everything from easily sterilized shower gurneys to burn care mattresses. Gifts from the Honolulu Firefighters Foundation have helped fund one of the Burn Care Unit’s most unique and important spaces — the hydrotherapy treatment wet room.
Heated tiles line the wet room’s ceiling to keep temperatures at about 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Due to the loss of skin, an essential regulator of body temperature, burn patients are at risk for hypothermia. A specialized shower is also used to help prevent infections and make patients more comfortable.
“We treat burns ranging from very small to the most severe,” Dr. Cho said. “Our Burn Care Unit is a constant state resource.”
When the next emergency happens, the only Burn Care Unit in Hawaii and the Pacific will be ready.
“The community’s support keeps our team going,” Chong said.