Burn injuries can affect anyone, anywhere at anytime – ranging from a minor annoyance managed at home, through to the life-threatening condition needing urgent transfer to a burn service. The real challenge is represented by those in-between these extremes - patients that require expert care delivered by people who may not feel that they are experts. This talk will cover the ABCs of acute burn care for the non-burn surgeon who finds themselves having to care for a burn patient – from initial assessment (size and depth), emergent care (wound care and dressing for 'minor burns' and escharotomies and burn resuscitation for 'major burns') through to surgical strategies for optimal outcome (debridement, grafting and the use of dermal substitutes) – strategies and techniques which have applicability to any patient with skin loss.