Most GPHC burn victims were attacked by their spouse

Jan 17, 2020 News

A majority of patients at the Burn Care Unit (BCU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) are those who were attacked by their spouses. This was related by a top official at the hospital.

Photo of the city hospital

In a recent interview, the official revealed that there are at present, 33 patients in the BCU; 28 are women. The remaining five are men. According to the official, these persons were either doused by their spouses with hot oil or hot water. Most of them had lit kerosene stove thrown on them.
Currently, there are 14 patients who were burnt by kerosene stove; nine of them were burned with hot water; while 10 were burned with hot oil.
According to the source, the majority of the burn patients attacked by their spouses or ex-lovers are between the ages of 20 and 36.
Every day, the BCU tends to over 100 patients, including children.
“Due to the number of years, I am working in this department, I have come face to face with a lot of burn patients. From interacting with these patients, I get to understand the circumstances surrounding their injuries and what will be lifelong scars,” the official related.
“Presently most of the victims in the burn unit were attacked by their lovers or ex-lovers. In the burn unit, we have cases where a patient’s spouse took hot oil and threw it on the (person); there are cases where some patients were attacked by their spouses with kerosene stoves. [We also] have patients who were doused by their spouses with hot water.”
The official further stated that persons tend to think that when it comes to domestic abuse, women are the ones who are usually victims. But that is only a mere thought, the official added, as on many occasions, there were and are several males who have been admitted in the unit due to third degree burn injuries, they sustained by the hand of their female spouse.
“The process of caring for injuries is not any easy one for the victims; a lot of pain is involved because their wounds have to be tended to on a daily basis.”
Only recently, the Board of Directors at the city hospital included counseling sessions to the hospital curriculum, with the aim of assisting burn patients to adapt to their scars.
This initiative comes after most of the patients in the BCU would usually complain about their appearance while going through physical therapy, and their fear of facing the general public with their scars.

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