Burn Conference At St. Alexius - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

With the increased oil activity in North Dakota, hospitals are admitting more patients for burn injuries.

Today a burn conference is put on in Bismarck, by the Regions Burn Center out of Saint Paul Minnesota.

Experts are teaching rural hospitals how to treat patients with burn injuries to help reduce the number of patients being transferred to other hospitals.

Mark Johnston says their hospital in Saint Paul receives a lot of patients from out of state.

"75 percent of our patients are referred from outside of the Twin City Area, so that can be Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Wisconsin and occasionally patients from Iowa,"

Those attending the conference spent their day in the classroom, but also gained hands on experience.

"With the oil boom we're seeing a lot more people who have burn injuries, so it's very beneficial for us and for our patients," Aaron Chalmers, Surgeon at Mid Dakota Clinic said.

Hospital employees from North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Minnesota attended today's conference.