The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of the D E M I score to assess severity and mortality risk of burned children on admission. This score was ceated on seven items selected from a series of risk factors, analyzed on a restrospective estimation sample of 168 children with acute burns admitted to the Hospital de Pediatria “Juan P. Garrahan” between July 1991 and October 1993. Total scores of 0 to 3 points correlated with 100% survival in the estimation sample (low risk), while all children with 6 or more points died (high risk). We present preliminary validation data from a prospective sample of 53 burned children admitted to the same unit from November 1993 to July 1994. Using the same cut-off points, we found 2% mortality in the 0-3 points group, (83% sensitivity, 87% specificity, 98% negative predictive value) and 67% mortality in the 6-10 points group (67% sensitivity, 86% specificity and negative predictive value). While improvements in burn treatment might modify estimated risks for mortality, we propose this scoring system to assess severity of burned children on admission and to organyze transfer according to complexity levels.