St Florian Fire & Burn Foundation

As burn survivors become too old to attend Miracle Burn Camp, making the transition from childhood and camper to adulthood offers campers many new fears and challenges. The now, young adults, were missing their Burn Camp "Family” and longing to have the connection to past friends. In order to address this need for peer support in February 2006, St. Florian partnered with the University of Iowa Burn Treatment Center and Camp Foster YMCA to host the First Annual Young Adult Burn Survivors Retreat (named YABS).

Every year since, a YABS retreat has been held, focusing on the transition from being a camper to young adult focusing on life skills and teambuilding.

The retreat has also been shown to fill another niche, for those burn survivors that are injured during their young adult years. These survivors, as there injuries occur when they are 18 or older, never have the chance to experience the peer support Miracle Burn Camp offers, so this retreat gives the young adult burn survivor an opportunity to network with others who are in a similar situation. They can connect with other survivors of similar age and are given hope by those that have been down the life altering path before.

In 2014, St Florian Fire & Burn Foundation partnered with the University of Iowa Burn Treatment Center to host the First Annual Family Burn Camp! This has been a dream in the making, to provide support for not just the burn survivor, but the entire family!!!!

Five burn survivors and their families gathered at Camp Foster YMCA in Spirit Lake over Labor Day weekend (August 29- September 1, 2014) to participate in the first Family Burn Camp in Iowa. Sponsored by St. Florian Fire and Burn Foundation and the University of Iowa Burn Treatment Center, Family Burn Camp was inaugurated to provide an opportunity for survivors and their families to spend time together in a supportive environment in order to build relationships, encourage one another – and have fun! It also provided the families of Miracle Burn Campers (and burn campers of the future) a chance to glimpse the magic of Camp Foster. There’s nothing like singing the Superman blessing at breakfast, walking across the Backwards Bridge (backwards, of course!), learning to shoot with a bow and arrow, taking a boat ride, making friends with a horse, and learning a new song at campfire – all in the same day!

In 2014, Family Burn Camp was held in conjunction with Camp Foster’s Annual Labor Day Family Camp. This followed the model of Miracle Burn Camp, integrating burn survivor families with families who have not felt the impact of a burn injury. Burn Camp families were able to participate in the organized activities around camp and also spend time together as a group, sharing their stories and supporting one another. While all of the survivors participating this year were burn camp age or younger, in the future we would like to include burn survivors of all ages. Family Burn Camp is a wonderful opportunity for the burn survivor community to come together for fellowship and fun.

This program began in 2014 and gives burn survivors, their families and close friends an opportunity to get together with burn care professionals, firefighters and other interested parties to enjoy each other’s company, share experiences and network.

Burn Survivors Together (BST) is a joint initiative of St. Florian Fire and Burn Foundation and the University of Iowa Burn Treatment Center, in partnership with local Fire Departments. The idea was to gather people together whose lives have been and continue to be affected by burn injuries – burn survivors, family members, care providers, and firefighters – to 1) connect members of the burn community in a geographical area; 2) educate them about resources, support opportunities, and burn community events; and 3) plant the seeds for ongoing social and support events in each area.

The inaugural Service of Remembrance honoring those who have died as the result of a wound or burn injury was held in the East Room of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics on Sunday, January 25, 2015 The Service was co-sponsored by the University of Iowa Burn Treatment Center and St. Florian Fire and Burn Foundation. There were 36 people in attendance, including 18 family members of patients who have died at the Burn Treatment Center in the past five years. Other attendees included Burn Treatment Center staff, St. Florian Fire and Burn Foundation board members, burn survivors, and Iowa City Fire Fighters.

Family members were invited to send in photos of their loved one as well as written tributes. The gathering began at 1:00 with refreshments and time to view the photo slide show and tribute boards. During the service, the names of the deceased were read and family members were invited forward to receive a stone engraved with the words, "I remember.”

This was the first Service of Remembrance to honor those who have died at the Burn Treatment Center, and the plan is to make it an annual event. By hosting such a gathering, we honor our patients who have died, through our care for their families. We also support our staff by acknowledging their grief, and we strengthen the bond between the hospital and the community.

St. Florian Fire and Burn Foundation strives to support the burn survivor. Many St. Florian programs are joint efforts between the University of Iowa Burn Treatment Center. St. Florian endorses the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors’ SOAR (Survivors Offering Assistance in Recovery) program and its efforts to match burn survivors with new patients in order to help them through the recovery process.

In this day of medical advances there remain two types of injuries that leave scars that are not only painful and long lasting but can be emotionally and mentally devastating. One of them is amputation and the other is a burn. Burns leave scars that last a lifetime and may require several surgeries to completely heal and regain mobility.

A person who has recovered from such an injury can understand the complexity of this healing process. St. Florian feels the SOAR program is necessary because burn survivors can truly demonstrate to others that survival and healing can be accomplished with the help of Peers.

This renowned event is a reflection of our community in action. People come together to offer support, increase their knowledge of burn recovery, and share inspiring stories. For many burn survivors, it is their first opportunity to connect with others on the journey of burn recovery.

Phoenix World Burn Congress is also a valued learning experience for burn care professionals. Through workshops, speakers, and peer-to-peer dialogue, professionals come to better understand the issues that impact the lives of burn survivors. Many participating firefighters have discussed the closure it brings them as they witness burn survivors and their families living meaningful lives.

St. Florian Fire and Burn Foundation plays an active role in education and prevention of fires, burn injuries, and other home safety issues. St. Florian works with fire departments and community partners by approaching prevention with a holistic and all-hazards approach to making the home safer, no matter what the hazard is.