Cling film?

[Stirling3749]

Perhaps it's one of those UK terms I haven't learned yet.

In the context of burn treatment I've seen the term "cling film" come up a few times, I always imagined it to be some sort of medical wrap but my google search turned up nothing but results for plastic food covering or what we we call (in Canada) cellophane, saran wrap, or cling wrap.

So that's all it is? really?

[Mesquite]

Yup... our cling film is the same as cling wrap.

Roll some off tear and dispose that section then start using the new roll to cover the burn with 3 or 4 layers. It protects the burn until you get to hospital and the medical staff can assess the burn through the bandage without having to disturb it.

[Whittler Kev]

Be carefull when ccoking as there are two types. one is non cancergenic so you can use it in the microwave and the other is used for non heated food covering etc

[toilet digger]

very handy for creating a near invisible barrier on the toilet bowl, ''apparently''

[BoonDoc]

what we we call (in Canada) cellophane, saran wrap, or cling wrap.

So that's all it is? really?

Hi Stirling,
As an ex-pat that moved here from Canada, I can understand the confusion. Saran Wrap, Reynold's Wrap and Cling Film are one and the same. It is a handy thing to have in your FAK.
By placing Saran Wrap onto your burn you remove the air from the burnt ends of nerves that are causing a lot of the pain. With no air in contact with the nerve endings the pain is greatly reduced.
Additionally, the open wound of the burn is protected from bacteria from the air or dirt.

Make sure you irrigate the burn at first to reduce the burning tissue. 20 minutes of room temperature water will do the trick. Then place the Saran Wrap over the wound and get to the ER.

Cheers

[nigeltm]

A word of warning.

Don't apply the cling film like a bandage by wrapping it around the burn. If (when!) the burn area begins to swell up the cling film will not allow for the swelling. This will reduce blood flow and may cause more damage. Apply the cling film in patches.

With the cling film in place you can continue to cool the burn with water as the cling film will protect it.

[santaman2000]

There is actually a medical bandage material called "cling" or more properly, "cling gauze." Here's a link www.thefind.com/beauty/info-cling-gauze

My Mom was an RN (registered Nurse) and I definitely remember her and the other medical staff referring to it as "cling" every time they did a bandage of any kind. That said, I don't remember any burn victims; seems a bit iffy to wrap a burn with gauze as it might stick and pull away flesh when removed.

[Graveworm]

There is "Burn Film" which is medical grade cling film but for medical read different packaging and more expensive. Commercial food cling film is every bit as good for burn dressing.

[BoonDoc]

There is actually a medical bandage material called "cling" or more properly, "cling gauze."

This is a different product and NOT for burn use. This bit is used to wrap around gauze to keep it in place.

The Cling Film for burns is nothing more than what you have in your kitchen to cover left over food.

[Genty]

All good stuff and fully concur, with the exception that I would just put one layer (again, a loose covering not a 'wrap'). Cling film is also a good insulator and you want the heat out of the wound. You can continue to cool with running water in place.

Cling film gained favour as a burn dressing and furthermore in the outdoors as it can be used very effectively to immobilise joint injuries, is not effected by moisture, is inherently sterile, you can see wound infections developing over time, is quick and easy to apply yada yada yada but....

...is a real biatch to keep in your bergen or FAK. A 12" long roll is not hugely convenient to pack. We tried cutting a tube down but that often 'welds' the ends together. The food grade cling film is also pretty fragile. (we have all done the Rubiks game of 'trying to find the end' to get it started, and then when it does...it tears off in a frustrating taper!)

The solution? 'Stretch Wrap' or packaging wrap. Similar stuff but a few microns thicker, it is a bit more durable and the 6" roll is a lot easier to carry. These also come on a rigid cardboard tube which is wider than the wrap; this protects the ends which prevents it coming off in tapers.



I haven't found them available individually so we buy them in boxes of 10 from Staples.

[Stirling3749]

Thanks for all the great replies everyone.
I felt a bit silly asking the question but with all this wonderful information here, I'm glad I did.

[weekend_warrior]

All good stuff and fully concur, with the exception that I would just put one layer (again, a loose covering not a 'wrap'). Cling film is also a good insulator and you want the heat out of the wound. You can continue to cool with running water in place.

Cling film gained favour as a burn dressing and furthermore in the outdoors as it can be used very effectively to immobilise joint injuries, is not effected by moisture, is inherently sterile, you can see wound infections developing over time, is quick and easy to apply yada yada yada but....

...is a real biatch to keep in your bergen or FAK. A 12" long roll is not hugely convenient to pack. We tried cutting a tube down but that often 'welds' the ends together. The food grade cling film is also pretty fragile. (we have all done the Rubiks game of 'trying to find the end' to get it started, and then when it does...it tears off in a frustrating taper!)

The solution? 'Stretch Wrap' or packaging wrap. Similar stuff but a few microns thicker, it is a bit more durable and the 6" roll is a lot easier to carry. These also come on a rigid cardboard tube which is wider than the wrap; this protects the ends which prevents it coming off in tapers.



I haven't found them available individually so we buy them in boxes of 10 from Staples.

Buying in bulk would be cheaper, but you can get single rolls on eBay - which is where I get mine!

Mini Stretch Wrap

No association or financial interest, just a customer...

[Graveworm]

It's only a tiny what if, but cling film for burns and indeed for food hygiene has set standards to meet, but that intended for wrapping parcels would need no such testing. Of course it's without a doubt better than being out in the elements, and most likely safe as houses but, if I am the one packing a kit or ordering contents to be possibly used by/on others, then I am led to believe I have the burden of responsibility to do all I can to minimise the risk of infection.

[Genty]

All clingfilm-like products are inherently sterile as a consequence of the manufacturing process; food grade or indeed 'medical grade' clingfilm is not treated or tested. Strech-wrap, like clingfilm, cannot be guaranteed sterile because it is not stored appropriately...but it is as clean as you are going to get.

In terms of infection...whatever you put on the wound is probably going to be cleaner than the debris in the wound. We try to minimise infection but it is almost impossible to completely remove in the field and, going back to the ABC hierarchy, the injury is going to pose more of an immediate problem compared to the infection which is a longer term issue, by which time the casualty should be in hospital having their wound cleaned properly and probably started on antibiotics as a matter of course.

Don't worry about the small stuff, concentrate on the big stuff and treat the injury as best you can. I say 'as best' because in an non-sterile environment, with limited equipment and experience that is all we can do...and thankfully every court in the land knows this.

[Graveworm]

All clingfilm-like products are inherently sterile as a consequence of the manufacturing process; food grade or indeed 'medical grade' clingfilm is not treated or tested.

I'm sorry but that is not the case, samples of all food cling film offered for sale in the EU or US has to be tested by approved labs for hygiene and materials used, it also has to be produced in a positive air pressure environment with dust control.

[Genty]

Thanks for the input - I'm always ready to learn more ;-)

As I understand it both products are polyethylene (although some 'cling film' brands are still PVC) which has been heated (hence 'sterilized'), stretched and then rolled in a clean environment. Food grade cling film is not actually treated or coated with chemicals for sterility.

I think the case is still that the benefits of:

:: applying a generally clean, occlusive dressing to a burn
:: being able to rapidly and easily immobilise a limb injury
:: having the ideal material at hand to rapidly treat an open chest wound
:: being able to apply a significant amount of uniform pressure to traumatic open wound

outweigh the risk of damage caused possible infection...which they almost certainly would get if left untreated and are not guaranteed to be prevented by using a dedicated medical dressing.

I appreciate your concerns though - it always better to err on the side of caution rather than wade in Gung-Ho style.

[resnikov]

Spam reported

[DocDC]

Some points here about burn management. Before even considering the use of a burn dressing of any description; it is very important that the heat is taken out of the burned area through some process of cooling.
Cooling is very important as tissue will continue to burn through the skin layers if not cooled adequately. Big problem here in wilderness situations, because of the lack of resources to do this.

It is easy to say cool a burn for 10 minutes with water but there area some issues with this:

1. Water from natural sources is often very cold. Cooling water should be at least ambient temperature.
2. For a significant burn this cooling even with ambient water may well lead to hypothermia and all the problems associated with this in terms of Damage Control Resuscitation.
3. Rarely do we carry enough water to cool a burn continuously for 10 minutes or even more (some burns will need longer to cool and may need intermittent cooling over hours in the wilderness). So easy to say, difficult to do!
4. Traumatic injury will bring the threshold for hypothermia down to about 36 degrees which means the detrimental effects of hypothermia as at 2 above occurs much quicker. This means that for many burns, cooling leads to burns dressing which leads to maintaining core temperature to prevent hypothermia.

To this end I have started to make much greater use of WaterJel. This product can be used very quickly to cool the burned tissue but in a number of studies does not lead to core temperature reduction. It also means that the cooling jel remains in contact with the affected tissue and does not run off due to its viscosity; thus preserving what may be valuable water supply. Depending on where you are this could be life preserving, particularly on an expedition in the desert.

I also carry a WaterJel facemask; simply because it is difficult to treat a burn to the face with anything!

In my hypothermia kit I have a blizzard bag and themalite cap for the victim of a significant trauma of any description, but particularly a severe or widespread burn.

In the wilderness there is nothing wrong with using food wrap/ saran wrap/ cling film to place over the WaterJel dressing. Water can even be used on top of this to assist cooling after a period of time.

If there is a real delay in evacuation I also have some Silverlon dressings that I may place on the wound and then re-apply the plastic wrap. This will help to keep the bacterial count down and help to relieve pain.

Pain is caused by air movement over the damaged skin, so once the burn it cooled the real advantage of cling film is to help minimize infection and to provide a barrier between the air and the tissue.

I have never come across a patient who only had one degree of burn injury. Most victims have zones of varying burn degrees so all burns are painful.

Infection is not really your issue in an emergency. It may become so if there is a delay in evacuation, but within the first 6 hours you should let the medical services worry about that. At the end of the day you can only do what you can do with the resources you have for the situation that you are in.

[santaman2000]

Some points here about burn management. Before even considering the use of a burn dressing of any description; it is very important that the heat is taken out of the burned area through some process of cooling.
Cooling is very important as tissue will continue to burn through the skin layers if not cooled adequately. Big problem here in wilderness situations, because of the lack of resources to do this.

It is easy to say cool a burn for 10 minutes with water but there area some issues with this:

1. Water from natural sources is often very cold. Cooling water should be at least ambient temperature...

Ummm? By definition water is always at ambient temperature. The definition of "ambient" is the actual temperature (usually of air) without the effects of wind, humidity, etc. taken into account. Thus whatever temperature the water is, it is ambient. The same as the ambient temperature of air.

[DocDC]

OK, fair point. Doesn't change what I am saying about burns though.

[santaman2000]

True. But I've used river water often with no ill effects (creek water if I can get it because it's much colder and works better) on my own burns. River water here is usually within a few degrees either side of 65 year round (creek water around 55 year round) Yes that's quite a bit lower than body temp (98.6) but not much lower than air temp in winter (sometimes warmer than winter air temp) and definitely not much lower than standard room temp (72)

Burns don't just occur when there's risk of hypothermia but also just as often when the risk is of heat exhaustion. Maybe more so because that's when more people are about in the woods.