Posted on 12/11/2019 5:09:57 AM PST by BenLurkin
A total of 47 people were on White Island, off the coast of North Island, when the eruption occurred. Six have been confirmed dead, while 25 people are currently hospitalized in critical condition. Search and recovery operations are continuing for those still missing and presumed dead on the island.
The skin is now needed to treat patients severely injured by the volcanic ash and gas. On Tuesday, medical officials said 27 people in hospital had burns to at least 30% of their bodies and many have inhalation burns that require airway support. Every burns unit in the country is at full capacity.
To put that into context, the average human body has about 11 square feet (1 square meter) to 21 square feet (2 square meters) of skin surface area.
The skin order has been placed and will come from the United States, Watson said. Skin and tissue banks from neighboring Australia, like the Donor Tissue Bank of Victoria, are also providing skin grafts and supplies. The skin grafts come from donors -- like organ donors, skin donors register to donate their skin after death.
When skin is donated, usually only a thin layer is taken, like the skin that peels when you are sunburned, according to the Australian government's donation site. The skin grafts are usually taken from donors' backs or the back of their legs.
The demand for skin is particularly high given the unprecedented number of severe burns to the victims, authorities said Wednesday. The patients' burns are already serious from their close proximity to the volcano during the eruption -- but the injuries were also complicated by gases and chemicals, Watson said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Horrifying.
That’s the equivalent of one jabba the nadler. Problem is, nobody wants that skin.
Prayers for the victims.
The government of NZ should be made to answer for this.
So much for socialized medicine.
I had a friend in high school; his older brother was a commercial truck driver who was picking up a load of hot mix asphalt. The chute operator prematurely dumped the asphalt when the cab of the truck was under the chute. He was horribly burned, but miraculously survived. I have to imagine lava burns would be no less horrific.
Tourists do a lot of dangerous things on vacation. Some pay a high price. One needs to set your own limits.
Note to self: Stay way away from volcanoes.
I worked at a major Hospital as a Pharmacy Tech and we had to do hourly runs to the hospital units delivering medications for patients. One of the units was the burn icu unit. The smell of burnt flesh was nauseating and the screams of the patients when getting a debridement treatment was hard to deal with.
We lost a good friend who was burned over 70% of his body when a semi hit his pickup truck from behind during a construction traffic stop. He lived a few months.
That would be nice, but check out what the volcano was doing, what the government knew and did. And the agency responsible for issuing the warnings is a quasi-government agency. NZ was more concerned about keeping tourism dollars flowing than the health and safety of people visiting the volcano.
And, yes, it would be nice if folks would do their own due diligence and, after seeing what the volcano had been doing recently, said screw it, not worth the risk, but they believed the government. Sigh.
More victims of global warming and Donald Trump’s imperious indifference, no doubt.
Ping
I heard on radio that volcano was in Lord of Rings, which is why it became a tourist destination.
hate to put it in such stark terms..but good business for the hospital burn units...
I think these were from the pyroclastic flow.
Search and recovery operations are continuing ... for those exposed to 1,300F degrees ...
I believe the island was privately owned and the tour company was also private. Not sure if the tours were legal. Someone will be held accountable.
Was this an “excursion” on a Princess tour? What does Princess have to say about their decision to sponsor an “excursion” to an active volcano site?
Not all people on the island would have come into direct contact with that flow. There have been survivors of those directly in the path that managed to find cover in prior eruptions too.
What does Princess have to say about their decision to sponsor an “excursion” to an active volcano site?
Probably something similar to “Talk to our lawyers.”
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