Editing Cocoanut Grove fire (section)

====Burn care====
The standard surface burn treatment in use at the time was the so-called "tanning process" involving the application of a solution of [[tannic acid]], which created a leathery scab over the wound that protected against the invasion of bacteria and prevented the loss of bodily fluids.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1016/S0002-9610(41)90198-8|title = Fifteen years of the tannic acid method of burn treatment|journal = The American Journal of Surgery|volume = 51|issue = 3|pages = 601–619|year = 1941|last1 = Glover|first1 = Donald M.|last2 = Sydow|first2 = Arnold F.}}</ref> This was a time-consuming process that subjected the patient to agonizing pain because of the scrubbing procedure required before the application of the chemical dyes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=McClure |first1=Roy D. |last2=Allen |first2=Clyde I. |orig-date=MAY 1935 |title=Davidson tannic acid treatment of burns |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-9610(35)90119-2 |journal=The American Journal of Surgery |date=1935 |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=370–388 |doi=10.1016/s0002-9610(35)90119-2 |issn=0002-9610 |access-date=2023-05-23|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

At MGH, burns were treated with a new technique pioneered by Cope and refined by [[Bradford Cannon]]: soft gauze covered with [[petroleum jelly]] and [[boric acid]] ointment.<ref name = "Lyons"/><ref name="Smith">{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Peter Audrey |title=Cocoanut Grove Fire Spurred Burn Care Innovation |url=https://giving.massgeneral.org/tragedy-spurred-burn-care-innovation/ |date=2021-06-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111043701/https://giving.massgeneral.org/tragedy-spurred-burn-care-innovation/ |archive-date=2018-11-11 |website=Massachusetts General Hospital |language=en |access-date=2023-06-20}}</ref><ref name = "Aub">Joseph C. Aub, Henry K. Beecher, Bradford Cannon, Stanley Cobb, Oliver Cope, N. W. Faxon, Champ Lyons, Tracy Mallory and Richard Schatzki and Their Staff Associates (Massachusetts General Hospital Staff doctors). ''Management of the Cocoanut Grove Burns at the Massachusetts General Hospital''. Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1943.</ref> Patients were kept on a closed ward, and meticulous [[Asepsis|sterile technique]] was used in all patient care activities. A month later, at BCH 40 of the initial 132 survivors had died, mostly from complications from their burns; at MGH none of the 39 initial survivors died from their burns (seven died from other causes<ref name = "Grant"/>). As a result, the use of tannic acid as a treatment for burns was phased out as the standard.<ref name="Lee">{{Cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Kwang Chear |last2=Joory |first2=Kavita |last3=Moiemen |first3=Naiem S. |date=2014-10-25 |title=History of burns: The past, present and the future |journal=Burns & Trauma |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=169–180 |doi=10.4103/2321-3868.143620 |issn=2321-3868 |pmc=4978094 |pmid=27574647 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>Barbara Ravage, ''Burn Unit: Saving Lives After the Flames.'' Da Capo Press, 2009. {{ISBN|9780786738915}}</ref>