Modern burn treatment started during the Second World War when penicillin, sulphanilamide and plasma became available for clinical use. They were effective solutions against the two most common killing complications of deep burns, shock and infection. Before 1940 in Europe, a person with over 30 per cent of their skin was most like to die. Now such a patient can attain multi-disciplinary treatment in a well-equipped and highly specialized burn unit.

Immense enhancements have appeared since the 1940s, reflected by lower mortality rates, better healing time and restored function. This is due to the formation of burn research units, an improved understanding of the burn wound and new, enhanced techniques.

The medical team's first concern is not the burn scar or burn wound itself, but the patient's life-support systems for blood circulation and respiration. The patient can die from shock or from breathing problems. Shock is characterized by a reduced rate of circulation to vital organs. If there is not enough blood circulating to these organs, they can't receive the oxygen they require to function. The shock's severity usually matches the burn area, that is shown as a percentage of the complete surface of the body. There will be respiratory issues if the lungs cannot supply enough oxygen to the body. This is more likely if the patient has also been affected by smoke inhalation.

Smoke inhalation, shock, the size of the burn and how much of the total burn is a third-degree burn determines a person's immediate possibilities for survival after a burn injury. The success rate of skin care interventions depends on the age of the burn victim, the size of the lesion, and the severity of smoke inhalation damage.

Burns are classified by the the depth of the burn and the percentage of body area it covers. The burn wound is cleaned by hospital staff one or two times a day and then dressed, commonly with treatment products created to kill microbes (a burn product called a topical antibiotic), gauze and bandages. Dressings means anything the nurses apply on or around the wound. Paraffin-imbued gauze is good because it doesn't stick to the wound. Modern see-through dressings are best, as the wound can heal beneath what seems like clear plastic sheeting. The curing process can be watched and the skin doesn't require to be examined so often and so heals more quickly. The see-through dressings are very costly, but not if we consider advantages like less scarring, minimizing pain and quicker curing. Classical bandages can be reused after being washed, while plastic-like sheets are used once.