Medical Challenges after Colectiv Deadly Fire
The devastating fire at Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest remains a challenge for Romanian and foreign doctors.
Roxana Vasile, 03.11.2015, 13:08
More and more chilling details continue to emerge regarding the devastating fire sparked by stage pyrotechnics in the overcrowded Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest. A team of scientists from the Polytechnic University in Bucharest exposed the mix of chemical agents that intoxicated the people inside, which includes carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, nitric oxide, hydrochloric acid and other toxic substances. This mix is deadly on any human being, the chief of Plastic Surgery at the Emergency Hospital in Bucharest, Professor Ioan Lascar told the press. The challenges facing the medical team treating the patients are therefore huge.
Ioan Lascar: “The risk posed by most of the surface burns is not that worrisome. But they are associated with the intoxication with these deadly gases and the high temperatures that burned the airways and pulmonary tissue, so it is hard for us to anticipate the evolution of our patients.
Many of the young people who suffered burns are now in intensive care units in 12 hospitals in Bucharest. They are currently intubated and require mechanical ventilation. Here is the medical manager of the University Hospital Dragos Davitoiu with details about the procedures in their case:
Dragos Davitoiu: “The attending physicians are monitoring them, treating their burns in several phases. They decide when to operate. Patients burns are dressed and lavaged. Life support protocols are ongoing.
Over the next few days, some of the patients might need dialysis, as the toxic substances they inhaled reach the kidneys. The doctors will also perform several skin-grafting surgeries. Here is Health Minister Nicolae Banicioiu:
Nicolae Banicioiu: “Romania has a skin bank. At present it has considerable supplies to cover the amount of skin required. Many people have expressed their intention to donate skin. Any help we can get is most welcome, we are not saying no to anyone.
Teams of doctors from Israel and France have come to Romania to assist doctors in their efforts, saying that never before have they encountered such severe cases. Secretary General of the French Society for Burn Injuries Professor Marc Chaouat specialises in reconstructive plastic and aesthetic surgery:
Marc Chaouat: “This situation is unusually rare. In all my 20 years of medical experience treating and operating burn injuries, I have never seen burns like these, nor such a large number of burn patients in need of treatment.
The authorities and doctors fear the number of fatalities might increase significantly.
