Background: In response to the 2009 bushfires in Victoria, Australia, rapid summaries of evidence concerning the emergency management of burns that could be used by agencies or groups developing clinical practice guidelines and promoting best front-line practice were produced. Objectives: To describe the process of developing the rapid evidence summaries and the outcomes of the project. Methods: Topics for rapid evidence summary were prioritised through discussions with burns care clinicians. Searches of the evidence, including systematic reviews and primary studies, were conducted by a search specialist. Two teams of methodologists prepared the summaries guided by the structured format of Evidence Aid. Wherever possible, Cochrane systematic reviews were used to inform the content of the rapid evidence summaries, but where unavailable a search of primary studies informed the summary content. The evidence summaries were peer-reviewed by an independent person experienced in evidence summary methodology. Results: Five evidence summaries covering five clinical questions were produced over an eight week time frame following the 2009 Victorian bushfires. They will be disseminated to relevant agencies and groups in the coming six months. Conclusions: Rapid evidence summaries are an important tool to aid decision making by healthcare professionals. A collaborative partnership between the evidence summary producers and burns care clinicians resulted in the timely production and dissemination of the evidence summaries following the bushfires.