American Burn Association Archives

The American Burn Association (ABA) is a not-for-profit Illinois corporation dedicated to the treatment of burn victims and their injuries. The Association had its origins in a special conference on burns that took place at the U.S. Army Surgical Research Unit at Fort Sam Houston, Texas in 1955. That meeting marked the beginning of a series of National Burn Seminars attended by individuals from various scientific disciplines that occurred throughout the United States from 1955 on. The growing need for a national organization dedicated to burn care and treatment was formally recognized with the ABA's founding in 1967 at a National Burn Seminar meeting at the Medical College of Alabama. The primary objective of the organization, as stated in the adopted bylaws of the ABA, was to "stimulate and sponsor the study of and research in the treatment and prevention of burns; to provide a forum for presentation of such knowledge; to foster training opportunities for individuals interested in burns; to encourage publications pertaining to the foregoing activities; and to consider such other matters as may properly come within the sphere of the Association."

The bylaws established two categories of membership: active membership, for those holding professional degrees, and associate membership, for nurses and allied health personnel working in the field. In 1975 the category of special membership was incorporated into the bylaws to allow other individuals who had demonstrated interest or accomplishment in the field to join the organization. In 1983 members voted to change the bylaws in regard to associate membership, creating a one-class structure that granted them voting and office-holding privileges.

Four hundred people attended the first annual meeting of the ABA in Atlanta, Georgia in 1969. In recognition of the interdisciplinary nature of comprehensive burn care, a scientific program was developed for the annual meeting which comprised a clinical session and a research session, expanding later to include an associate program, and a program on burn prevention. By 1985 membership had grown significantly with 1,329 people registered for the annual meeting. During the 1980s the ABA identified new directions, focusing more closely on the issues of burn prevention and rehabilitation for the seriously burned patient. Furthermore, the ABA sought to encourage the involvement of the federal government in boosting funding for burn research activities.

In order to address the full range of burn-related issues the ABA worked through a structure of committees and special interest groups. It fostered the dissemination of burn-related research through the peer-reviewed Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation, which became the official publication of the Association in 1986, and sponsored educational programs nationwide. The Association also awarded outstanding service in the field, and granted traveling fellowships annually. Today, from its headquarters in Chicago, the ABA continues to play a major role in advancing care and treatment for burn injuries, co-sponsoring educational programs, offering grants and awards for research, travel and teaching, and publishing resources on available burn-care facilities and educational resources throughout the United States and Canada.