This volume is published with a triple aim: to take a look back over the advances during the ten years of the Mediterranean Burns Club and mark its anniversary; to follow up and strengthen the successful twin ning of burns as a clinical, individual illness problem and fires as a societal, disaster management problem; and to look ahead at the per spectives of burn care and fire prevention in the fast-approaching new century. The occasion also marks the tenth annual presentation of the prestigious G. Whitaker International Burns Prize, to which the Mediterranean Burns Club acts as the...

Thermal harm is one of the most traumatizing assaults on man and his environment. Whether suffered by living beings as burn injury, or sustained by societal structures as fire damage, the resulting physical pain and material loss can be extremely distressing both to the person and to society. The health professions and in particular burn specialists have been continually developing effective means of combating burn disease and promoting rehabili tation of the victims, especially in mass casualty situations. In parallel, various levels of the community have been mobilizing fire prevention and...