TC/0026

Ambulances, Fire Service and first-aiders play vital role

FOLLOWING the explosion on Saturday, fire, ambulance and first-aid personnel - including those who were off-duty - rushed to the scene to offer what assistance they could.
A 50-strong team of fire-fighters worked almost seven hours at the explosion in Market Street sifting through the rubble, locating the dead and injured.
Fire crews from Dromore, Fintona, Newtownstewart, Clogher, Irvinestown and specialist appliances from Lurgan and Belfast assisted fire-fighters from Omagh at the scene Mr. Tom Chapman, divisional commander for 'S' division, which covers South Tyrone and Fermanagh, said it was a case of all hands to the pumps.
"A lot of officers were very distressed, they had seen anything of this kind before. A few knew the people involved - some were their own relatives," he said. Ambulances service personnel from Newry, Dungannon. Cookstown, Altnagelvin,Enniskillen, Castlederg and Strabane joined staff from Omagh. According to Mr. Jim Christie, director of operations at the Ambulance Trust in Belfast, 18 vehicles ferried casualties to Tyrone County Hospital and to hospitals in Enniskillen, Londonderry, Dungannon and Belfast.
By-standers also helped take the injured to hospital, and Mr. Paddy McGowan, local councillor and manager of Omagh's Translink Ulsterbus depot,commandeered two buses to assist.
"Our major incident procedure was put into operation. It was the biggest incident of its kind in the Province," said Mr. Christie, who commended staff who, he said, performed excellently and did everything that was asked of them.
In a moving account of the part played by members of the local St. John Ambulance Brigade, Florence Maguire, superintendent of Omagh division, described the scene at Market Street as "horrendous".
"We had an ambulance on scene just outside Mcllveen's shop at 430pm. Our job was to take the deceased to the morgue. Victor Donald and I worked alongside the ordinary ambulance service, while my other colleagues were at the leisure centre. It was an unbelievable scene." said the St. John Ambulance Brigade volunteer.
"I have been a qualified nurse since 1970 and have never seen anything like this." she said.
She went on to explain that they had finished working in the town at midnight on Saturday and from there went to the Tyrone County Hospital, where they were asked to take two victims who had died there to the morgue in the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital.
"We then went to the leisure centre and stayed there until 3.30am. I then went to work in ward six at the County on Sunday-morning. It is usually the male surgical ward, but at the weekend both male and female patients were there," she said.
"The atmosphere at the leisure centre was awful. People were waiting and not knowing where their friend and relatives where. There was nothing you could say or do, just hand them a tissue, hold their hand or get them a glass of water. The word 'sorry' seemed so useless at a time like that," said Florence.
"It only really hit me when I saw the photographs in the newspapers. When I woke up on Monday morning it seemed like an awful nightmare. It was hard to believe it had really happened," she went on.
"I am a volunteer worker in the Oxfam shop as well and it was hard to believe that two of the young volunteers, Lorraine Wilson and Samantha McFarland, were also dead. I was working with Samantha on Friday afternoon, and it is hard to believe she is gone. They were both lovely girls," she said.
Members of the local Order of Malta raced back to Omagh from a motor cycle race where they were providing first-aid cover at in Glaslough, Co. Monaghan, when they heard, via mobile phone, about the bomb in Omagh.
Rushed back
Mr. Kevin Moore, officer-in-charge of the Omagh units, said two ambulances were in Monaghan and rushed back to the town, reaching Omagh at about 5.30pm.
"We divided our personnel. One ambulance went to the leisure centre where they set-up a field hospital, while Charlie McCourt and I took the other ambulance to the County," he said.
When they got to the hospital, they liaised with Sister Anita Quigley, and from there were sent to work on ward five.
"We also had to ferry two young people to Altnagelvin - one was a Spanish student. Both had horrific-injuries. We had a police escort all the way to Londonderry, and I would like to compliment the RUC for that help. It enabled us to get the injured to hospital speedily and unhindered by other traffic," he said.
Personnel from the Order of Malta staff maintained a presence at the leisure centre throughout the night, with some leaving for a break at 3.30am, only to return at 7.30am.
"We stayed there at the request of Superintendent James Baxter, to maintain first-aid cover throughout the night for the relatives, many of whom who were in shock,'" he said.
Kevin is a nurse tutor for Queen's University, Belfast, based at Altnagelvin, and oversees the work of student nurses at the Tyrone County Hospital.
He said, however, that no amount of training could have prepared them for what they had witnessed at at the weekend. "The overwhelming feelings are of shock, disbelief and sadness, one of us knew someone involved. It was very hard to cope with. It will remain with me for a long time." he said.
Speaking about the role played by members of the Red Cross, Miss Margaret Guy, trainer for the Western branch, said the Omagh tragedy was something which "struck at the heart of everyone".
"The scene was horrendous. It was devastating," she said.
She received a call at about 4pm saying there had been a bomb in Omagh and there was a large number of casualties.
"I got into my uniform as quickly as possible and tried to ring Marina Donald but her phone was down," said Miss Guy.
"I heard the appeal on television for medical volunteers to go to the County Hospital and went. The Red Cross respond to emergency calls and turn-out in a crisis," said Mrs. Marina Donald, who added that her colleague, Joyce McCaskie, met them at the hospital.
They were joined by Red Cross personnel from Londonderry, Belfast, and later that evening, by volunteers from Enniskillen.
"The scene at the hospital was horrendous. There were distressed relatives everywhere and a lot of casualties. Being local, people knew us and I think they were comforted to see a familiar face," said Miss Guy.
The Red Cross volunteers then set about assisting administrative staff at the hospital, compiling lists of missing persons and doing whatever was necessary.
"Whatever needed to be done was done. Everyone worked together, shoulder to shoulder, side by side," she said.
"We arrived at the County at between 5.30pm and 6pm, and, later that evening, went to the leisure centre," said Miss Guy, who added that there was a Red Cross presence at both the leisure centre and the hospital at various times throughout Saturday night, all day Sunday and on Monday. They were joined on Sunday by Eileen Charleton.
Other personnel from Londonderry, Enniskillen and Belfast, helped with a number of tasks including befriending relatives, ferrying patients to hospitals and the helicopters. Some also travelled with members of the RUC and relatives to the makeshift morgue at the Army camp.
Mary Brogan, branch service for The Red Cross Western Branch, explained that the team were made feel part of the emergency team. Along with social workers, members of outside bodies, care units and members of the RUC, they were briefed on arrival by David Bolton, director of community care with Sperrin Lakeland Trust. Mr. Godfrey Young, community services manager (child-then managed the hands-on co-ordination.
"It was great to see Red Cross personnel from other parts of the Province. The phones were down and I couldn't contact them, so I was really glad when they turned up. I am very proud of the professional job all our personnel did. I think it made a real difference to the families there. Befriending people is where our personnel came into their own," she said.
A member of the Red Cross adminstration staff, Tonya Cullon, is currently helping out at the emergency centre in High Street, and the organisation is to help victims and their families on a long-term basis.
Meanwhile, police officers and ambulance personnel created a floodlit landing zone in a car park at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, so an injured child could be flown into Belfast for treatment. The child was among the last victims of the blast to be rushed to the Belfast hospital.
Other patients had been landed in a hastily cleared car park outside the Accident and Emergency centre, but poor light made it treacherous for the helicopter, until drivers circled their Land Rovers and ambulances to light the area.
There was further tragedy on Sunday morning when an ambulance ferrying an injured bomb victim to a hospital in Belfast was in collision with a taxi.
The taxi-driver died and three people were injured.
The ambulance was rushing the Spanish girl on board from the Erne Hospital, Enniskillen, to the Ulster Hospital at Dundonald, and was only one mile from the Belfast hospital, when the accident occurred at the junction of the Knock Road and King's Road at 9.35am.
The dead man has been named as 38-year-old Gary White from Lansdowne Road, Newtownards.

Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION

Ref: TC/0026

Published Date: 20-Aug-98