The Importance of Continuum of Care: Bugaboo-Ibarra Family

To meet and accommodate burn survivors during all phases of healing, the Arizona Burn Foundation uses a comprehensive Continuum of Care Model. The Continuum of Care Model allows survivors and their families to receive the levels of care they need throughout the entire recovery process. Survivors in inpatient care receive the high levels of care they need, and once discharged, receive the appropriate amount of outpatient services for their needs and healing process. It is not uncommon for burn survivors to reestablish a connection with the Arizona Burn Foundation years after their accident. The Continuum care model allows Arizona Burn Foundation to meet the survivors where and when they are most comfortable.

The Arizona Burn Foundation’s Continuum of Care has made a lasting impact on the lives of the many Tucson survivors and families who have accessed it. One family who has greatly benefited from that impact has been the Bugaboo-Ibarra family.

Maya Bugaboo-Ibara, 3 years old, was burned on 05/13/2023 suffering from a 25% TBSA burn due to a sparkler catching her dress on fire. Maya was airlifted via helicopter from Rio Rico, AZ, to Banner University Medical Center in Tucson, AZ where the Banner Burn Team was ready to offer her the lifesaving care she needed. Maya was hospitalized for a month and a half and during that time, she surprised many people with how fast she was healing. During her time at BUMC, the Arizona Burn Foundation supported Maya and her family with financial assistance, gas cards, meal vouchers, and lodging. These essential services allowed both the survivor and the family to focus on the healing and recovery that come next.

After Maya’s discharge, she continued to receive care at the Banner Burn Clinic by the same Burn Team who treated her when she was inpatient. To help ease the burden of the long drive from Rio Rico, AZ to Tucson, AZ, the Arizona Burn Foundation’s Burn Care Support Coordinator would visit families at the clinic and provide them with gas cards.

Along with follow-up appointments, Arizona Burn Foundation was present during Maya’s laser surgeries and were also able to assist with lodging and gas cards to assist with the families travel expenses from making the drive from Rio Rico, AZ

During all of Maya’s medical appointments and follow up appointments, Maya and her family made time to attend Arizona Burn Foundations’ events such as 2023 Family Ranch Day at Trak, the 2023 Tucson Holiday Party, and 2024 Camp Nurture. These events are crucial to a burn survivor’s healing journey because they create a sense of community, emotional connection, interaction and engagement, and membership. Maya and her family were able to share and connect with other families who are healing and processing through similar events.

To this day, the Bugaboo-Ibarra family is active and engaging with Arizona Burn Foundation and we hope to follow Maya all the way through adolescence and adulthood. Arizona’s Burn Foundation is proud to be a lasting and continued presence during our survivor’s healing journey. And the Bugaboo-Ibarra’s family story has been a wonderful example of the lasting effects of the continuum of care.