Six of the victims from the fireworks explosion in Salt Lake on New Year’s Eve were flown on Saturday to an Arizona burn center for further treatment, and they are all expected to survive.
However, the road to recovery will be long. Each patient will require between six to 12 months before they regain anything resembling normal function, according to Dr. Kevin Foster, with the Arizona Burn Center, who spoke to reporters on Monday via a video conference application.
Foster said the patients are “over the first big hump, which is resuscitation.” He said now the focus is on excising all the burns. After that, the medical professionals will work to ensure the wounds close, which can be the “most dangerous time for burn victims” as they may get infections.
For privacy reasons, the patients were not identified, but Foster described them as being in their 20s and 30s and having “very extensive burns” that range from covering 45% to 80% of their bodies. The six patients all require breathing tubes and ventilator management.
“Many of them required emergency surgeries before they were able to be transported here, and a number of them have traumatic injuries in addition to their burn injuries, in addition to the flame injuries, there were a lot of explosions and a lot of particles flying to the air, and almost everybody has multiple projectile injuries,” said Foster.
On New Year’s Eve, a fireworks explosion at a home in Aliamanu (Salt Lake) killed four people and left at least 20 other people with critical injuries. Two female victims were found dead at the scene, and two other victims died later at the hospital, including a 3-year-old boy.
On Saturday, six burn victims were taken in ambulances from Queen’s Medical Center and Straub Benioff Medical Center to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. From there, the patients flew aboard a military aircraft to the Arizona Burn Center. On Sunday morning, medical professionals at the burn center operated on all six patients. The following day, the doctors continued to operate on three of the patients, with plans for three more surgeries on Tuesday.
“By that time, we should have all of the burns off of people, which is our primary goal, and then we start closing the wounds and skin grafting,” said Foster.
In the next few days, medical professionals are hoping to remove the breathing tube from one patient and to get them breathing on their own. But, Foster said, for at least four of the patients, he expects them to be intubated and sedated for weeks.
Foster anticipates all the patients will spend several months in Arizona, before being discharged to Hawaii, where some will spend more time in an acute rehabilitation center.
As for the long-term recovery, the patients will have to learn to live with their scars and the physical limitations that go along with the severity of the burns. They will also have to overcome the psychological aspects of being burned.
“We anticipate that all of these patients are going to have some adjustment issues, I suspect that many, if not all of them, will end up with post-traumatic stress disorder,” said Foster.
The Arizona Burn Center employs two full-time psychologists and a psychiatrist, who will assist the patients.
Foster said they are also working with the families of the patients who flew to Arizona to provide them with housing.
“We’ve actually had a couple of people who work here in the burn center who have volunteered their homes,” said Foster. “We will make sure that we take good care of the families and that they don't suffer any unnecessary hardships being this far away from home to be with their loved ones.”
Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.