‘We have never seen anything like that’: Bedlam at hospital as worker describes eruption aftermath

Warning: This story contains graphic detail on the medical response to the White Island volcano eruption.

The medic examined his patient and sent a staffer to the shops to buy more Glad Wrap.

She was in a bad way and a long way from home. Her skin was "blasted off", blistered and raw.

White Island after Monday’s eruption.Credit:George Walker, White Island Flights 

Within an hour of the volcano erupting, Whakatane Hospital was overrun with burns victims.

Screams echoed in the corridors and the bodies kept piling in. It was complete bedlam, a hospital staffer said.

About 30 victims from the White Island eruption were treated at the small, coastal hospital.

A medical professional has spoken about the bedlam at a hospital treating victims of the White Island volcano eruption.Credit:Getty Images

Bolt cutters were deployed to remove watches and rings before limbs and fingers swelled. "They wanted our spot desperately for another urgent patient but we couldn't go until we wrapped her," he said.

"Fluid was dripping out of her, so we wrapped and wrapped her in Glad Wrap. I was trying to roll her but I was too scared to touch her because every time I did, skin would come off in my hands."

Tearfully, the staffer spoke of the moment they found out his patient's name.

"We managed to call her by her name and say, 'it's gonna be all right'. We did our best for her, we got her as comfy as we could and put a warming device on her before her transport to another hospital," he said.

Every burns patient was initially identified by a number, in the order they arrived at hospital.

The international patient had a phone with her and it was ringing, but staff declined to answer it as they felt the language barrier may have made an already appalling situation worse.

Not only that, they were unsure what to say or tell the person on the other side of the phone, especially when she was in a critical condition.

He said the injuries were similar to that you would expect to see from hot steam or water. And for most patients, there were no signs of injuries from debris.

Three days after the eruption, the staffer has flashbacks of his time in the emergency department. Specifically, the six hours spent with the woman he helped to survive.

While he was was doing his best with his overseas patient, other people were screaming for their loved ones who were unknowingly being wheeled to the morgue.

But after a 14-hour day he was sent home and other staff covered his shift.

"People have got to remember that we're a small hospital, no one was identified at the time, everyone was covered in ash, everything was happening at once: the focus was on saving lives," he said.

"The identity was irrelevant at the time, we just wanted them to survive. Identity is important for people but we just had to treat what we saw, and that was injuries and human beings.

"We have never seen anything like that. We had a bus crash a few years ago and it was nothing like what we saw on Monday."

Tuesday was surreal for staff and the mood was sombre.

There were about 150 that helped on Monday, and the next day was spent restocking shelves and cleaning up the chaos. There was so much ash in the air conditioning, the whole system had to be removed and cleaned.

"It's traumatising for us getting them safe and stable, but it's only a patch of what they're going to experience in their lives," he said.

The hospital staffer didn't know any of the victims personally but Hayden Marshall-Inman was his tour guide a few months back. "He was lovely and I hope his family get him back," he said.

The staffer told his story after being troubled by recent reports about accountability, and "finding someone to blame".

"I guess I'm biased because what I saw was the human element. I don't care about the politics I want to keep people safe in the future but initially we need to think of families and staff, and everyone that had to deal with it," he said.

"Look after those people first, the family and friends of the people that are critical.

"Let's remember the human element of this whole tragedy, let's help everyone through this, then go looking for what went wrong."

Stuff

Source: Read Full Article