A 4-YEAR-OLD boy suffered from serious burns after he accidentally sat in a basin of boiling hot water, and his family’s inappropriate emergency actions worsened the burns, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

The unattended child, identified as Xiaobo, sat in the basin filled with hot water that had just been boiled by his grandmother for his bath. The grandmother left the bathroom without adding cold water to the basin.

Terrified by Xiaobo’s screams, the grandmother immediately took off Xiaobo’s clothes.

Taking off the kid’s clothes caused secondary injuries, said Xiaobo’s doctors at Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University. Nearly 10 percent of Xiaobo’s skin, mainly on the back of his thighs, his back and hips, was burnt.

Xiaobo was in critical condition when he arrived at the hospital. His life would have been at risk had he not received timely treatment.

Doctor Zhu Xiongxiang said that if Xiaobo’s family had used the right method to deal with the child’s injuries, his condition would have been better.

Zhu said the first thing to do is to use cool water to rinse the burnt areas to cool down the skin’s temperature. If the skin is attached to clothes, one must use scissors to cut instead of tearing the clothes. After first-aid, patients need to be sent to the nearest hospital as soon as possible for treatment.

(Zhang Qian)