To intubate or not to intubate? Predictors of inhalation injury in burn‐injured patients before arrival at the burn centre

Objective Inhalation injury occurs in approximately 10–20% of burn patients and is associated with increased mortality. There is no clear method of identifying patients at risk of inhalation injury or requiring intubation in the pre‐hospital setting. Our objective was to identify pre‐burn centre factors associated with inhalation injury confirmed on bronchoscopy, and to develop a prognostic model for inhalation injury. Methods We analysed acute admissions from the Victorian Adult Burns Service and Ambulance Victoria electronic patient care records for 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2016. We defined inhalation injury as an Abbreviated Injury Scale of >1 on bronchoscopy. A multivariable logistic regression prediction model was developed based on pre‐burn centre factors. Results Emergency medical services transported 1148 patients who were admitted to the burn centre. The median age of patients was 39 years and most patients had