Oregon Burn Center explains how Nippon victims treated

Four patients injured by the May 26 chemical spill at the Nippon Dynawave paper mill in Longview were sent to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland, Legacy Health officials confirmed.

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One patient was treated and discharged, two remained in care at Legacy Oregon Burn Center as of June 1 and one patient died of their injuries, according to a Legacy Health statement.

Spill victims were sent to the Portland hospital because Legacy Oregon Burn Center is the only specialized burn center between Sacramento and Seattle. PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center in Longview, where many patients were initially sent after the accident, does not have a dedicated burn unit, according to its website.

Legacy Health was not able to share information about specific patients, but an official wrote that the spilled chemical, white liquor, is a strongly basic substance that can cause alkaline burns.

Basic substances have a high pH, typically over 7. White liquor has a pH of 13. Substances like ammonia and bleach, often found in home cleaning products, can also cause such alkaline burns.

This was the first time the center treated patients with burns specifically from this exact white liquor, though they had treated alkaline burns before.

Acidic burns, which are caused by substances with a very low pH, can often be more superficial. These types of burns can be caused by contact with sulfuric acid, found in car batteries, or hydrochloric acid, used in pool maintenance.

When treating highly caustic chemical burns, the first step is to rinse the chemical off the patient. Because white liquor sticks to skin, patients may need to be rinsed for at least an hour to remove as much as possible.

Only after this decontamination can care for the wounds begin.

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