Feb. 1-7 is Burn Awareness Week, and during this week, Shriners Hospitals for Children will kick off a year-long campaign focused on preventing gasoline burn injuries, according to a recent press release. A special Web site has been developed for the campaign,www.burnawarenessweek.org.

“Preventing burn injuries and burn awareness education should be an ongoing effort, not just a week-long campaign,” said Peter Armstrong, M.D., chief medical officer at Shriners Hospitals for Children. “We are declaring 2009 the year of ‘Preventing Gasoline Burn Injuries.’”

According to a study published in the November 2007 issue of the Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation, there are an estimated 10,000 pediatric burn injuries annually in the U.S. "Most of these types of burn injuries are preventable,” Dr. Armstrong said.

Since 2002, Shriners Hospitals for Children has treated more than 800 children for acute burns caused by ignition of a highly flammable material, such as gasoline. Kids 13 and older are in the highest at-risk group for gasoline and other flammable substance burns.

Shriners Hospitals for Children encourages firefighters, teachers, parents, caregivers and other members of the community to participate in the year-long campaign by visitingwww.burnawarenessweek.orgfor important gasoline safety and burn prevention messages and tips and information on how to order free materials, including lesson plans for students in grades K-3, facts sheets about gasoline safety, coloring books, crayons, stickers and copies of a DVD developed specifically for teen audiences.