The burn situation in Gizan. Planning and implementation of a Burns Unit at the King Fahd Central Hospital, Gizan, the Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia.

A 500-bed referral hospital was designed in 1975 in the health region of Gizan , the Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia. According to an agreement of 1981 between the Danish Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Health for the Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia, Danish cooperation to start and run this hospital was initiated. At the end of 1982 an investigation was made as to whether there was a need for a Burns Ward, a Burns Unit or a Burns Center. The epidemiology (number, severity and causes of burns) in the Gizan region (500 000 inhabitants) was investigated and all in-patients were examined, after which a recommendation to establish a Burns Unit was made. The Danish personnel arrived in April 1983, and the first patient was admitted to the Unit in May 1983. During the first 5-month period 46 patients with burns and 77 other patients requiring plastic surgery were treated. It seems therefore that the need for a Unit for Burns and Plastic Surgery has been proved. The number of inhabitants in the Gizan health region corresponds to that of the municipality of Copenhagen (500 000), and in the future the epidemiology, treatment and results of treatment will be compared in these two areas.