Immediately rinse a burn with cool running water for 20 minutes; avoid applying toothpaste or soy sauce
Children whose burns were cooled under cool running water for 20 minutes within 3 hours needed skin grafts less often. Use cool water, not ice water; ice can worsen the injury. Do not tear off clothing stuck to the wound. After cooling, cover it with a clean damp cloth or plastic wrap and seek hospital care. Do not apply toothpaste or sesame oil. If cooling was delayed, doing it within 3 hours can still help.
No cost involved. It requires 20 minutes of time.
Australia tracked 2,495 children with burns. For children who were rinsed with cool running water for 20 minut…
No cost involved. It requires 20 minutes of time.
Australia tracked 2,495 children with burns. For children who were rinsed with cool running water for 20 minutes within 3 hours of injury, the odds ratio for subsequently needing skin grafts was 0.6, 95% CI 0.4–0.8 (confidence interval). This indicates lower odds of needing skin grafts, but cannot directly be read as a probability only 60% as high as in those without that cooling. Results from 7 studies combined also found that '20 minutes of cool running water within three hours of injury significantly reduces the possibility of needing skin grafts and surgical treatment of the wound.' The International Red Cross 2025 First Aid Guidelines state: do not rinse with ice water, and do not apply ice, as this will worsen the injury. The NHS states that clothing and jewelry near the burn should be removed, but do not move anything stuck to the wound, and do not apply any ointments, oils, or butter to the burn. The guideline also recommends covering the burn with a clean damp cloth or plastic wrap to protect it on the way to hospital.
Griffin BR, Frear CC, Babl F, Oakley E, Kimble RM (2020). Cool Running Water First Aid Decreases Skin Grafting Requirements in Pediatric Burns: A Cohort Study of Two Thousand Four Hundred Ninety-five Children. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 75(1), 75-85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2019.06.028；Griffin B, Cabilan CJ, Ayoub B, et al. (2022). The effect of 20 minutes of cool running water first aid within three hours of thermal burn injury on patient outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Australasian Emergency Care, 25(4), 367-376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.auec.2022.05.004；International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (2025). International First Aid, Resuscitation and Education Guidelines 2025，第 289 页：「Do not use ice-cold water」「Do not apply ice, as this may aggravate the injury」，第 288 页：「Covering a burn with a clean wet cloth or plastic cling wrap can protect it during transit to medical care」. https://www.ifrc.org/sites/default/files/2026-03/IFRC%20International%20First%20Aid,%20Resuscitation%20and%20Education%20Guidelines%202025.pdf；NHS. Burns and scalds：「do not remove anything that is stuck to the affected area」「do not put any creams, oils or butter on burns or scalds」. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/burns-and-scalds/treatment/
Open source linkIt is cool water, not ice water; ice application will worsen the injury. If clothing is stuck to the wound, do not tear it off forcefully; after rinsing, cover it with a clean cloth and go to the hospital. Do not apply toothpaste, soy sauce, sesame oil, or flour; the NHS states that no ointments or oils should be applied to burns. Additional rinsing within three hours is still effective. For how to prevent burns when bathing infants, see Section 20, Item 17 (add cold water first, then dilute with hot water).