Medical experts urge people to be careful around hot liquids and meals

Tea, coffee and two-minute noodles — they may seem commonplace enough, but medical experts are urging people to be aware of the dangers of hot liquids and meals.

Medical experts are urging people to be aware of the risk of burns when eating instant noodles.

Tea, coffee and two-minute noodles — they may seem commonplace enough, but medical experts are urging people to be aware of the dangers of hot liquids and meals as winter approaches.

While statistically there is no rise in burns reported among children at this time of year, experts say the onset of cold weather means people are thinking more about how to keep warm.

And with that needs to come an awareness of the dangers of heat sources.

Fairfield Hospital paediatrician Nicholas Cheng said a cup of tea could leave a child with serious injuries if not handled carefully.

“A single cup of tea spilt on a small toddler can leave you with burns which are severe enough to hospitalise you,” Dr Cheng said.

Fairfield Hospital's Clinical Nurse Consultant Wayne Phillips and Pediatrician Dr Nicholas Cheng. Picture: Robert Pozo

“Anything that you put in the microwave can cause burns if you stick it on the lap and off it goes.”

Instant noodles are also on the list of unlikely culprits.

Fairfield Hospital paediatric burns treatment centre clinical nurse consultant Wayne Phillips said more awareness was needed of the link between noodles and the risk of hot water burns.

“There’s a mindset out there in this country that noodles are aimed at a certain age group and that tends to be a primary school aged child, but there’s very little thought that connects noodles to the danger,” he said.

Dr Cheng said children should be supervised in the preparation of hot meals.

The community is being urged to take care around hot drinks and meals.

“The ideal thing to do would be to have an Australian standard for warnings on noodles. Prevention is always better than a cure,” he said.

Another concern for healthcare staff is the varied and dubious first aid treatments prevalent among some communities.

These include soy and fish sauces in Vietnamese communities, butter in Middle Eastern and European cultures, and aloe vera and paw paw extracts.

“We recently had a little boy who had toothpaste applied and we have had even absolutely crazy things like tiger balm,” Mr Phillips said.

Dr Cheng added: “The best evidence we’ve got at the moment is cold running water from the tap for 20 minutes is the best treatment as first aid for burns.”

Any burn larger than a 20 cent piece should be examined by a healthcare professional.