FRANTIC SEARCH FOR A HOSPITAL
Frantic search for a hospital
By Lara Bradley
DRIVERS ferrying injured people in cars and vans saw the overwhelming number of casualties at Tyrone County hospital in Omagh - and drove on in desperation to the next nearest hospital.
They started arriving at South Tyrone Hospital in Dungannon just 40 minutes after the blast.
A four-year-old child was among the men, women and children treated for multiple face and head wounds, severe limb, chest and abdominal injuries.
South Tyrone hospital was deeply sombre yesterday. Many of the injured had relatives in other hospitals around the province. Some nursed their own wounds with the knowledge that members of their families were dead.
Three women in a serious condition were awaiting transfer to Belfast for specialist surgery. Three men and five other women ranging from 17 to 66 years old remained in a stable condition.
One man was by his wife's bedside in Dungannon while his daughter-in-law was seriously ill in Altnagelvin. He cried as the enormity of the blast hit him. Hardly able to communicate his grief, he said: "I know scores of the dead and injured."
Nurses had the added stress of not knowing if the next person they helped through the casualty doors would be one of their own family.
One nurse knew her children were going shopping in Omagh. She was relieved and astounded when she heard they never made it because the car they were travelling in had broken down.
Another nurse who knew her sister had gone to the town worked frantically to help the injured despite her personal anguish.
Clinical specialist nurse Robert Sowney said: "A lot of our staff have relatives in Omagh. I think people fail to realise how distressing it is
for accident and emergency staff in such a small community.
"We never get used to the carnage. It affects us and if it didn't, then we would be in the wrong job."
Robert described the atmosphere as one of "incredible calm despite the circumstances".
The phone-lines were flooded with calls from panic-stricken relatives searching for their loved ones.
"The hardest thing to deal with was knowing we were their last hope and suspecting that the person they were looking for may well be dead.
"When someone is in total despair 20 miles away on the other end of the phone, there is little you can do to ease their pain," he said.
In the early hours of Sunday, Robert was still turning away people who came to give their blood.
He said: "In total contrast to those who planted the bomb, we were overwhelmed with offers of help from across the UK."
By Lara Bradley
DRIVERS ferrying injured people in cars and vans saw the overwhelming number of casualties at Tyrone County hospital in Omagh - and drove on in desperation to the next nearest hospital.
They started arriving at South Tyrone Hospital in Dungannon just 40 minutes after the blast.
A four-year-old child was among the men, women and children treated for multiple face and head wounds, severe limb, chest and abdominal injuries.
South Tyrone hospital was deeply sombre yesterday. Many of the injured had relatives in other hospitals around the province. Some nursed their own wounds with the knowledge that members of their families were dead.
Three women in a serious condition were awaiting transfer to Belfast for specialist surgery. Three men and five other women ranging from 17 to 66 years old remained in a stable condition.
One man was by his wife's bedside in Dungannon while his daughter-in-law was seriously ill in Altnagelvin. He cried as the enormity of the blast hit him. Hardly able to communicate his grief, he said: "I know scores of the dead and injured."
Nurses had the added stress of not knowing if the next person they helped through the casualty doors would be one of their own family.
One nurse knew her children were going shopping in Omagh. She was relieved and astounded when she heard they never made it because the car they were travelling in had broken down.
Another nurse who knew her sister had gone to the town worked frantically to help the injured despite her personal anguish.
Clinical specialist nurse Robert Sowney said: "A lot of our staff have relatives in Omagh. I think people fail to realise how distressing it is
for accident and emergency staff in such a small community.
"We never get used to the carnage. It affects us and if it didn't, then we would be in the wrong job."
Robert described the atmosphere as one of "incredible calm despite the circumstances".
The phone-lines were flooded with calls from panic-stricken relatives searching for their loved ones.
"The hardest thing to deal with was knowing we were their last hope and suspecting that the person they were looking for may well be dead.
"When someone is in total despair 20 miles away on the other end of the phone, there is little you can do to ease their pain," he said.
In the early hours of Sunday, Robert was still turning away people who came to give their blood.
He said: "In total contrast to those who planted the bomb, we were overwhelmed with offers of help from across the UK."
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/032
Published Date: 17-Aug-98
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