Burn injuries are a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally and can lead to significant physio-logical insult and organ dysfunction. In addition to describing the epidemiology of burns injuries, this module provides an overview of the pathophysiology of burns, an approach to the initial assessment and management of the patient with burn injury. A burn injury should be described in terms of the depth of injury (superficial, dermal or full thickness) and the size of the injured area expressed as a percentage of the total body surface area affected. In addition, initial assessment should include a comprehensive ABCDE approach, as these patients often have disturbances to physiology and co-existing pathology. Special consideration should be given to circumferential burns (of either digits, limb or torso) as these injuries may require decompressive escharotomy. Early fluid resuscitation is imperative to counteract the fluid losses and shifts experienced following burn injury and is most commonly determined using the Parklands formula.