Singapore’s First Paediatric Burn Centre at KKH

Parents in Singapore can now feel more reassured when it comes to emergency burn care for children. KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) has officially launched the nation’s first dedicated Paediatric Burn Centre, designed to provide faster, safer, and more holistic treatment for your little one.

Faster, Safer, and More Integrated Care for Kids

Every second counts when a child suffers a burn. KKH’s new Burn Centre is built to deliver immediate, specialised care — shortening treatment time and improving infection control.

Dr Gale Lim, Head and Senior Consultant of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery at KKH, explains that children experience pain and fear differently from adults, making timely, child-focused treatment crucial for recovery and emotional resilience.

Each year, KKH treats around 400 new cases of paediatric burns. The majority involve toddlers under two years old, often due to scalds from hot water, soups, or beverages — accidents that are preventable with proper awareness and quick response.

Complete Burn Care for Children in One Centre

The new Burn Centre focuses on integrated features that help children recover faster and feel more comfortable, such as:

• Consultation rooms connected to treatment rooms

Ensures seamless care from assessment to treatment and enhances infection control and emergency response.

• Specialised shower bed

Enables single-location treatment for wound cleaning and drying under general anaesthesia, eliminating the need to move young burn patients between rooms.

Previously, children endured this process awake and in pain. The new feature minimises infection risks and significantly reduces stress, fear and anxiety for children and their parents.

• Dedicated procedure room

Designed for burn cases but adaptable for non-burn mass casualty incidents, strengthening KKH’s overall emergency response capability and capacity.

• Strategic location

The KKH Burn Centre is located next to the newly revamped Children's Intensive Care Unit (CICU) for rapid access to critical care in emergencies. The CICU features temperature-regulated and positive pressure rooms for enhanced infection control, providing better care for patients with severe burns.

The Centre is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of plastic surgeons, nurses, and allied health professionals, offering a full continuum of care from acute treatment to rehabilitation.

Putting Children’s Comfort First

As the first hospital outside North America to be ChildKind-certified, KKH leads the way in paediatric pain management. Every aspect of care, from medical procedures to emotional support, prioritises the child’s comfort and confidence.

The centre’s Child Life, Art, and Music Therapy Programmes (CHAMPS) help children express their emotions through creative play and music, reducing anxiety and promoting healing. Brightly coloured, playful interiors also help ease young patients’ fears from the moment they arrive.

Future-Ready Critical Care Facilities

The Burn Centre is part of KKH’s broader initiative to upgrade its critical care facilities, including the Children’s and Women’s Intensive Care Units. Key enhancements for the intensive care units include:

• Enhanced pressure-controlled rooms provide superior infection control by isolating infectious patients and protecting vulnerable patients
• Switchable privacy glass ("magic glass") providing better hygiene and instant privacy control
• A specially designed door interlock system with a temporary override button enables emergency access while preserving room pressure regimes

The critical care facility is also configured to be pandemic-ready, with capabilities of full isolation as a dedicated pandemic zone, complete with essential support amenities to ensure that KKH remains at the forefront of women’s and children’s health.

A Milestone for Singaporean Families

For parents, knowing that such a specialised facility exists provides tremendous peace of mind. With the new Paediatric Burn Centre, Singapore families have access to world-class care that blends medical excellence with genuine compassion.

For more information, please visit www.kkh.com.sg or follow KKH on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.