GEORGE NEWS - The Neo Victoria building collapsed at 14:09 on Monday 6 May. At 14:40, Mediclinic George general manager Kassie Karstens received a call. It was a request for assistance with medical emergencies.

Five minutes later, at 14:45, members of the hospital operations committee (HOC), which reports to the joint operations centre during a disaster, were gathering. 

"When I got the emergency call, I put a notification out on our management WhatsApp group, adding that this wasn't a drill, but the real thing," says Karstens. By 17:00, they had already taken in five patients.

Each member of the HOC had a task. Whether it was to determine the number of beds available or the number of theatre cases on the list, or how many patients should be expected, everyone kicked into gear to do their share for an orderly, but swift response. It is all part of the hospital's major incident plan.

Organised chaos

Says the head of the emergency unit, Dr Isabel van der Merwe, "When patients started arriving, it soon became somewhat chaotic, but it was organised chaos. Two of the patients were in theatre in the first hour and a half. Because of regular drills and of course previous experience, everyone knows exactly what to do. The Covid pandemic was similar."

In this case, there was blood mixed with dust and building rubble. "You would wipe stones from patients' faces and the beds. There were moments when I thought, 'Hell, but this is chaotic', but in that same moment I would realise everyone is doing their thing. 

"At one stage I looked up and there were some specialists standing, wanting to know how they could help. Staff from as far as Oudtshoorn who were not on duty just pitched up and jumped right in."

Karstens says he had a moment when it flashed through his mind that this was like a scene from Grey's Anatomy. Injuries that had to be treated were multiple fractures and severe cases of crush syndrome.

Says Van der Merwe, "It was strange not to have a clue whom you were treating. There were no names, no identification, so we ended up labelling the patients and giving them random names to help with things like blood work. 

"It was an uncertain time. You knew the estimated number of people caught up in the rubble, but there was no way of predicting how many patients would arrive and when."

Amazing cooperation

All elective surgeries were cancelled and those patients asked to go home. Karstens says specialists, radiologists and pathologists were extremely helpful and offered their services voluntarily. "We received amazing cooperation and it was really one massive effort."

Van der Merwe highlights the role of the HOC whose support enabled the emergency centre to handle the sudden influx of seriously injured patients. 

"The HOC sorts out logistics around things like beds, transport, stock and blood. And someone answers the phone so you don't have to worry about it. You can focus on patients. What was amazing was how people just kept on working until the work was done."

Voluntary help

The hospital was overwhelmed by donations of clothes and toiletries for the disaster patients whose clothing was evidence of dire poverty. Van der Merwe says some were wearing wire as belts to keep their trousers up and plastic bags inside their shoes.

"The public donations were so generous that we were able to help each patient with clothing and shoes in his/her size. We also received too much toiletries and donated the excess to the George Hospital maternity ward. 

"It was also amazing to see how counsellors from Famsa came to the hospital and were able to assist people in various different languages. They made a huge difference."

Most of the patients from the disaster site were referred to Mediclinic because their trauma capacity is bigger and more infrastructure is available than at the provincial hospital. 

A total of 18 was admitted of whom four were in the ICU. Two were transferred to Groote Schuur Hospital and three patients passed on. As of Tuesday 21 May, one patient was still in ICU and one in a general ward.

Groote Schuur Hospital yesterday (Wednesday 22 May) said the two patients in their care are both in a stable condition.

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