June 30, 2005

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Thirty years after it helped create the UC Davis Regional Burn Center, an organization of Sacramento-area firefighters has donated $1 million to help build a new center that will double the size of the current facility and consolidate all burn services in a single location.

The donation, made by the Firefighters Burn Institute, will help fund the building of a new regional burn center and support vital teaching, research and patient care programs at UC Davis. The new burn unit, to be located in the Surgery and Emergency Services Pavilion, is now under construction at Stockton and X Streets in Sacramento. The pavilion is slated to open in 2008.

"We are proud to support UC Davis' new burn center, and are committed to raising another $1 million for this important community resource, " said Patty Neifer, executive director of the Firefighters Burn Institute.

The burn center will occupy 9,000 square feet, up from the current unit's 4,500 square feet, expanding space for patient care, treatment, storage and equipment. The existing eight-bed regional burn center provides care to nearly 300 burn patients annually from throughout the medical center's 33-county Northern California region. Patients are admitted for life-saving procedures, intricate wound care assessment and management, as well as rehabilitation and psychosocial support and counseling.

The UC Davis Regional Burn Center is one of only two burn units in Northern California verified and certified by the American Burn Association. Of the 139 burn centers in the United States, only 42 meet the stringent standards required for certification. Specialists at UC Davis research and develop model treatments to improve burn care and recovery. Current research focuses on improving wound healing, detecting early signs of scar formation, and improving transfusion rates.

"The efforts of the Firefighters Burn Institute — and countless Northern California fire fighters and community members — will help us forge vital discoveries in burn care and treat even more critically injured patients in our new burn center, " said David Greenhalgh, chief and professor of burn surgery for the UC Davis Department of Surgery and chief of staff at Shriners Hospital for Children Burn Center. "We appreciate their generous gift and the support from the community."

The Firefighters Burn Institute's dollar-by-dollar "Fill-the-Boot for Burns " campaign, in which fire fighters ask drivers at regional intersections for donations to support burn recovery programs, contributed significantly to the $1 million donation. Fire fighters and staff also have raised money through special events and payroll deductions.

UC Davis Medical Center and community fire fighters first partnered in 1972 to establish the UC Davis Regional Burn Center after a devastating plane crash at a Sacramento ice cream parlor killed 22 people and severely burned dozens more. Sacramento Area Fire Fighters Local 522 created the non-profit Firefighters Burn Institute under the leadership of fire captain Cliff Haskell to raise money for public education, burn prevention, recovery/support services and clinical burn research at UC Davis' burn center.

"The institute is dedicated to assuring that the best possible burn treatment and recovery programs are available in Northern and Central California, " said Brian Rice, president of the institute's board of directors and fire captain at Sacramento Metro Fire Department. "Fire fighters are pleased to strengthen its relationship with UC Davis. "