Toxicity and healing effect of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) blend hydrogel films as wound dressings were evaluated. Toxicity testing is checked by acute general toxicity, in vitro cytotoxicity and sticking on skin assay. We used a highly sensitive 7 d RPMI-1640 cell culture with fibroblasts as cytotoxicity test system. Cytotoxicity is assessed by monitoring cell growth inhibition, supported by cell morphological evaluation using light microscopy (LM). It was shown that PEO/PVA blend hydrogels did not induce any acute general toxic effects on mice and an allergic reaction for rabbit skin. The cell growth inhibition and morphology at the LM level were the very same as those of the control culture. To evaluate the healing effect of the blend hydrogels on burn, the hydrogels covered a wound formed on the back of rats. As compared with the corresponding gauze dressing group, the healing under the wet environment of the hydrogel dressing had some advantages: the wound healing is faster(,p,<,0.01); it is easier to change the dressing without any damage to the regenerated surface and no dressing material remains on the wound. It is concluded that PEO/PVA blend hydrogel films may be considered as truly biocompatible, and the wet environment formed by the hydrogels is effective for fast healing of wound.