ae } s N BY oy $985 OY 36% Inlerhome 24 1h + Yt Vat —- + - 8, +13 265 42Y, 42 VA} . Wo p_} € Markelfacis > 7% ? = ws 33 1A 144 Marsh -t14'/ ; - Shriners Hospital Employee Helps Prevent Burns (NAPS)—One man has stood between children and the danger of burns from such things as hot tap water, fast food and cigarette lighters. Yet, while the Shriners Hospitals’ “Burn Prevention Tips” booklets he helped create are wellknown across the country, few people know the “burn guru” behind them. Matt Maley, director of risk management at Shriners Hospital in Cincinnati, played a major role in the creation of the booklets, as well as other prevention publications and projects. For the last 34 years, while working at Shriners Hospital, Maley has been a national leader in burn prevention education. His accomplishments include being named National Fire Educator of the Year by the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration in 1978. He also acted as a consultant on fire and burnrelated issues for the U.S. Fire Association and participated in the development of burn prevention curriculum, including Learn Not to Burn and Kids Aware, Kids Informed. Maley is often investigating burn culprits, including tap water and microwave oven injuries, ciga- rette lighters, hot drinks from fast food restaurants and more. Several of his studies have led to changes in laws or manufacturers’policies. In 1983, Maley began a study of microwave oven-related burns. He published several articles on the topic and encouraged baby bottle manufacturers to post warning and caution labels on their packages; by 1986, all had doneso. In 1985, in conjunction with a nurse from a Louisville hospital, Maley began to petition the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to makecigarette lighters safer; in July 1995 such a law went into effect. In 1987, he began anotherstudy. “We started seeing children burned while using the microwave by themselves. Children under age 5 constituted 50 percentof all burns, Over the years, Matt Maley, the Shriners’ “burn guru,” has helped pass numerous laws aimed at protecting children. which wefelt was too high a num- ber,” he said. “These children were just too youngto be operating this kitchen appliance without adult supervision.” Maley asked advertisers to pull ads that showed young children using the microwave without proper supervision. In 1989, he developed a formal petition to change plumbing laws in Ohio to require control of hot water in rental and public access buildings. This law went into effect in 1991. For a free copy of Shriners “Burn Prevention Tips” booklet or more information on Shriners’ network of 22 hospitals that provide free treatment to children with orthopaedic problems, burns and spinal cord injuries, write to: Shriners International Headquarters, Public Relations Dept., 2900 Rocky Point Dr., Tampa FL 33607, or visit the Web site at www.shrinershq.org. If you know a child Shriners can help, call 1-800-237-5055 in the United States or 1-800-3617256 in Canada. Shriners Hospitals provide free treatment to children under age 18 without regard to race, religion or relationship to a Shriner.
