Scorching Arizona summers are causing more severe pavement burns, doctors say

Seventy-year-old Phoenix resident Robert Woolley was getting ready for a swim in his backyard pool last summer when he unexpectedly tripped and ended up with third-degree burns over 15% of his body.

The accident happened mid-morning one year ago Wednesday — July 3, 2023 — a day when the temperature in Phoenix reached 113 degrees. Woolley, now 71, says the dark-colored granite landscaping rocks he landed on when he fell were likely much hotter than the already searing air temperature. When he couldn't get up after falling, his skin began to cook on the rocks.

"I tried everything I could to get up," he said.

Woolley is one of a rising number of Arizonans who are ending up hospitalized at the state's top burn center for severe contact burns from hard surfaces like concrete and pavement during the scorching summer months.

Admissions for summer contact burns to the Diane & Bruce Halle Arizona Burn Center at Valleywise Medical Center in central Phoenix have increased over the past five or six years, center director Dr. Kevin Foster said.

As the July 4 holiday weekend approaches, Foster wants to remind Arizonans of the statistics and of Woolley's story. Among those most vulnerable to burns from hard surfaces like pavement are older people and babies. People who are using illicit fentanyl, which can lead to drowsiness and in some cases loss of consciousness, are also at risk, Foster said.

"Summers are a busy time. We always anticipate we will see a spike in patients," Foster said during a news briefing at the burn center. "People don't realize how hot a surface can get. … Pavement surfaces can be 160 degrees, 170 degrees Fahrenheit."

Four Valleywise patients died from contact burns in June, officials say

Woolley, a retired teacher and former U.S. Navy fighter pilot, celebrated his 42nd wedding anniversary while in intensive care, had seven hours of surgery and spent a total of five weeks combined in the hospital and a rehab center recovering. He is one of 136 patients who were admitted to the Valleywise burn center for summer heat related contact burns between June and August 2023, an increase from 85 patients during summer 2022, Valleywise data shows.

Last summer, 14 Valleywise patients died due to getting burned by hot outdoor surfaces, hospital officials say. The death tally for June this year was four, and three of them were senior citizens, officials said. Fifty patients were admitted to the burn center with heat-related contact burns in June, Foster said — two-thirds of them were seniors, most of them older men who got burned when they were outside doing yard work or other home-related chores.

Woolley was about to take a swim when he got burned. He had just dipped his foot in the water and decided to go back inside to get a towel. Wearing pool shoes, swim trunks and a tank top, he tripped on his way back, before he had a chance to get the towel.

"I caught my toe, started going over, got father than I could recover from, touched the ground hoping to catch myself and I was startled by how hot the rocks were," Woolley said. "I tried pushing up with my hands and it was so painful. I couldn't keep my hands in contact with the ground for an effectively long enough time to move. … I pushed and pushed until I couldn't stand it anymore and looked at my hands and the skin had peeled off my palms like the skin of an onion."

Since it was impossible for him to stand up, Woolley began wiggling himself across the hot rocks rocks "like a sidewinder rattlesnake," and toward the back sliding doors of his home. "And that's when I burned my leg from my calf to my hip really badly."

When he made it to the sliding doors, Woolley, who was still unable to stand up, used his feet to kick on the back sliding doors. His wife and son came to his assistance and took him to the emergency department at the Carl T. Hayden Veterans' Administration Medical Center in Phoenix. The VA hospital immediately sent Woolley to the specialized burn treatment center at Valleywise.

'Changing the bandages every day felt like being skinned alive'

Woolley ended up with third-degree burns on his left forearm, the outer part of his left leg from the calf to the hip, right shoulder and both his hands. He also experienced second-degree burns on his back. Doctors took skin from his thigh to graft onto the most severely burned areas of his body, he said.

"The ordeal was extraordinarily painful," he said. "Changing the bandages every day felt like being skinned alive. It was almost unbearable."

The burns affected not just his skin. Woolley also experienced low blood oxygen level and a racing heart that caused cardiac issues. He's expecting to get a pacemaker this summer.

"And I wouldn't have had that if I hadn't been burned," he said.

To avoid contact burns, Foster advises, if at all possible, to avoid going outside during the heat of the day. If you do go outside, even if it's just to go for a swim or do yard work, make sure someone knows where you are, or better yet, take someone with you, he said.

Foster said sources of contact burns can come not just from concrete and pavement but also from playground equipment and from water in a hose that's been sitting outside in the sun. He also sees people who get burned from touching hot surfaces inside vehicles that have been left in the sun.

"Almost all of these burns are preventable," he said. "We would love to have a July where we have zero admissions."

Reach health care reporter Stephanie Innes at stephanie.innes@gannett.com or at 480-313-3775. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @stephanieinnes .

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Scorching Arizona summers are causing more severe pavement burns, doctors say