THE SURGEONS COPE BUT NEVER FORGET
THE SURGEONS COPE BUT NEVER FORGET
ONE of Ulster's top surgeons told last night how he would never forget what he had to deal with in the aftermath of the Omagh atrocity.
Mr Laurence Rocke who has been involved in major trauma incident plans since 1971, including the Shankill bombing, had to treat some of the blast's most seriously injured.
He said: "You cope, but you never forget it."
Mr Rocke, a senior accident and emergency consultant at the Royal Victoria Hospital, revealed that some of the casualties particularly those with severe head injuries were "unlikely to make full physical recoveries."
"Many people will have significant long-term problems and disabilities," he said. "Some people will have to have amputations.
"There are people with major burns who will need a lot of surgery.
"Patients are looking at months and years of rehabilitation."
Mr Rocke paid tribute to the staff who were mobilised at short notice.
"All kinds of people played their part - the lab, X-ray people and the caterers," he said.
"No matter how much of this you see over the years, you cannot comprehend how anyone can do this.
"We sit down with the younger staff in particular and talk things through.
"For anybody who needs counselling, it is always available."
Meanwhile, one of the medical staff tending the wounded at Tyrone County Hospital saw their own child brought in seriously injured.
Dominic Pinto, senior consultant surgeon at Tyrone County Hospital in Omagh, said: "One or two of my staff had their own children involved. Unfortunately one case was quite a severe incident."
He said of the aftermath of the blast: "It was a battlefield.
"When I arrived at the hospital there were so many people injured one didn't know where to start."
Mr Pinto told a news conference at the hospital he was struggling to come to terms with the horrific scenes of, suffering in the hospital.
Visibly exhausted and upset after working through the night helping the injured, Mr Pinto added: "It saddens me to think that people perpetrate such atrocity.
"I want to appeal to these people and ask what have they gained by doing this?
"It is their own people, that they are injuring and maiming.
"I appeal to them, let me not see this sort of thing; again. It's dastardly."
Mr Pinto said: "I am still trying to fathom out what makes people do this. I am saddened and lost for words."
ONE of Ulster's top surgeons told last night how he would never forget what he had to deal with in the aftermath of the Omagh atrocity.
Mr Laurence Rocke who has been involved in major trauma incident plans since 1971, including the Shankill bombing, had to treat some of the blast's most seriously injured.
He said: "You cope, but you never forget it."
Mr Rocke, a senior accident and emergency consultant at the Royal Victoria Hospital, revealed that some of the casualties particularly those with severe head injuries were "unlikely to make full physical recoveries."
"Many people will have significant long-term problems and disabilities," he said. "Some people will have to have amputations.
"There are people with major burns who will need a lot of surgery.
"Patients are looking at months and years of rehabilitation."
Mr Rocke paid tribute to the staff who were mobilised at short notice.
"All kinds of people played their part - the lab, X-ray people and the caterers," he said.
"No matter how much of this you see over the years, you cannot comprehend how anyone can do this.
"We sit down with the younger staff in particular and talk things through.
"For anybody who needs counselling, it is always available."
Meanwhile, one of the medical staff tending the wounded at Tyrone County Hospital saw their own child brought in seriously injured.
Dominic Pinto, senior consultant surgeon at Tyrone County Hospital in Omagh, said: "One or two of my staff had their own children involved. Unfortunately one case was quite a severe incident."
He said of the aftermath of the blast: "It was a battlefield.
"When I arrived at the hospital there were so many people injured one didn't know where to start."
Mr Pinto told a news conference at the hospital he was struggling to come to terms with the horrific scenes of, suffering in the hospital.
Visibly exhausted and upset after working through the night helping the injured, Mr Pinto added: "It saddens me to think that people perpetrate such atrocity.
"I want to appeal to these people and ask what have they gained by doing this?
"It is their own people, that they are injuring and maiming.
"I appeal to them, let me not see this sort of thing; again. It's dastardly."
Mr Pinto said: "I am still trying to fathom out what makes people do this. I am saddened and lost for words."
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0008
Published Date: 17-Aug-98
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