Characterization and Prevention of Burn Caused by Electrical Bicycle Battery Charging (BEBBC): Results from a 7-year Experience

Abstract

Abstract With the exponential increase in express deliveries over the recent years in China, the battery used for electrical bicycle, is yet hazardous and sometimes leads to fire disaster while charging. The typical burn caused by electrical bicycle battery charging (BEBBC) has remarkably increased. A retrospective chart review of patient associated with BEBBC collected in department of Burn in Rui Jin Hospital between January 2015 and December 2021 were performed. 63 BEBBC and 1412 flame burn patients were collected in this study. 56 of the 63 cases (88.89%) occurred while sleeping at night. Most of BEBBC incidents occurred in a densely populated residency and presented with higher incidence of group burn (58.73% vs 7.97%, P＜0.0001). The average age of nonlocal in BEBBC was significantly younger than that of local (33.69±1.91 vs 54.23±4.15 years, P＜0.0001). BEBBC also had higher mortality in comparison with that of flame burn (11.11% vs 3.40%, P=0.0016). The rising incidence of BEBBC calls for more attention because of its higher mortality and high impact on society. Legislation, popular science propaganda, or treatment improvement on controlling infection of respiratory tract and bacteria translocation of gastrointestinal tract might increase cure rate and reduce mortality in BEBBC.