HOSPITAL A SCENE OF SERENE DILIGENCE
Hospital a scene of serene diligence
By Damien McArdle
ONE of the priests who ministered to the dead, dying and injured has spoken of the "quietness and calmness ' that descended on Omagh's Tyrone County Hospital as the victims were tended to.
Fr John Gilmore went to the hospital in the immediate aftermath of the blast expecting chaos - but was met instead by a scene of serene diligence as staff carried out their duties.
Fr Gilmore spent nine hours on Saturday "moving up and down corridors", giving the dead the last rites, speaking words of solace to the injured and comforting relatives and friends.
Fr Gilmore, parish priest in Omagh for two years, said there was no visible panic as the hospital attempted to cope with both the victims as well as a large influx of anxious locals inquiring about their loved ones.
"There were people every-where but there didn't seem to be confusion, rather there was an air of quietness," he said.
"I thought there would have been pandemonium but the doctors, nurses and orderlies were just working away. I was deeply impressed by their speed and calmness."Fr Gilmore said the initial scene inside the hospital contrasted sharply with that outside as many of the bloodstained vehicle commandeered to ferry the injured for treatment sat abandoned and unparked.
Explaining how he - along with other local ministers of every denomination - moved between wards and operating theatres as the situation demanded, the shocked priest said he lost count of those he anointed.
He added the most difficult task was comforting relations and friends who knew their loved ones were there but didn't know whether they were alive or dead.
"There were so many people changed, bloodied and disfigured by the bomb that it was hard to identify them," he explained.
"I personally knew one or two of the less badly hurt but many of the dead and critically injured appeared to have been from the rural areas outside Omagh and had been in doing their shopping.
"I got to know them and their families on Saturday."
On leaving the hospital after midnight Fr Gilmore made his way to the town's leisure centre.
It had been converted into a makeshift co-ordinating centre to deal with queries from townsfolk and the media.
The scene there, too, was one of quietness, according to Fr Gilmore. '
He spent the next six hours "doing what he could" to comfort those present.
"It was a case of people just waiting and hoping," he said.
"At one stage they read out the names or all the people who were in the different hospitals.
"I can tell you there were tears of relief when people heard their loved ones were all right. Some of them were convinced their relatives were dead."
Fr Gilmore admitted his work in dealing with the effects of the bomb was "just about to begin".
"This has hit all ages -from the cradle to the grave" he said.
"At the minute we're dealing with the shock. We haven't come to the anger yet".
By Damien McArdle
ONE of the priests who ministered to the dead, dying and injured has spoken of the "quietness and calmness ' that descended on Omagh's Tyrone County Hospital as the victims were tended to.
Fr John Gilmore went to the hospital in the immediate aftermath of the blast expecting chaos - but was met instead by a scene of serene diligence as staff carried out their duties.
Fr Gilmore spent nine hours on Saturday "moving up and down corridors", giving the dead the last rites, speaking words of solace to the injured and comforting relatives and friends.
Fr Gilmore, parish priest in Omagh for two years, said there was no visible panic as the hospital attempted to cope with both the victims as well as a large influx of anxious locals inquiring about their loved ones.
"There were people every-where but there didn't seem to be confusion, rather there was an air of quietness," he said.
"I thought there would have been pandemonium but the doctors, nurses and orderlies were just working away. I was deeply impressed by their speed and calmness."Fr Gilmore said the initial scene inside the hospital contrasted sharply with that outside as many of the bloodstained vehicle commandeered to ferry the injured for treatment sat abandoned and unparked.
Explaining how he - along with other local ministers of every denomination - moved between wards and operating theatres as the situation demanded, the shocked priest said he lost count of those he anointed.
He added the most difficult task was comforting relations and friends who knew their loved ones were there but didn't know whether they were alive or dead.
"There were so many people changed, bloodied and disfigured by the bomb that it was hard to identify them," he explained.
"I personally knew one or two of the less badly hurt but many of the dead and critically injured appeared to have been from the rural areas outside Omagh and had been in doing their shopping.
"I got to know them and their families on Saturday."
On leaving the hospital after midnight Fr Gilmore made his way to the town's leisure centre.
It had been converted into a makeshift co-ordinating centre to deal with queries from townsfolk and the media.
The scene there, too, was one of quietness, according to Fr Gilmore. '
He spent the next six hours "doing what he could" to comfort those present.
"It was a case of people just waiting and hoping," he said.
"At one stage they read out the names or all the people who were in the different hospitals.
"I can tell you there were tears of relief when people heard their loved ones were all right. Some of them were convinced their relatives were dead."
Fr Gilmore admitted his work in dealing with the effects of the bomb was "just about to begin".
"This has hit all ages -from the cradle to the grave" he said.
"At the minute we're dealing with the shock. We haven't come to the anger yet".
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0014
Published Date: 17-Aug-98
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.