The critical checks doctors make while battling to save the life of a fire victim
Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
A doctor who treated victims of the Grenfell Tower blaze has revealed the critical checks medics make while battling to save the life of a fire victim.
Dr Malcolm Tunnicliff, clinical director for emergency and acute care at King’s College Hospital, in south London, dealt with 12 casualties from the deadly inferno.
He was asleep when his phone phone at 2.39am but by 3:30 he was treating the first wave of casualties from the 27-storey high rise.
The emergency medic said all had injuries caused by smoke inhalation, such as an inflammation of the airways called pneumonitis.
Thankfully no one was badly burned but every patient had carbon monoxide posioning.
Describing the efforts of his colleagues and the efficiency of the hospital's major incident plan as "brilliant", Dr Tunnicliff told the Guardian exactly what staff check for in the event of a fire.
(Photo: AFP)
(Photo: AFP)
(Photo: Channel 4)
"With fires we worry about patients suffering upper airway burns caused by breathing in hot smoke," he said. "To check for that you look for soot in the mouth, you listen to the patient’s voice – is it hoarse? – and you check to see if their nasal hair has been singed from being directly exposed to fire.
"About half of our patients had that. Once you’ve diagnosed that you need to treat it quickly, because otherwise it might get worse, and you do so by giving someone a general anaesthetic.
"Some patients will be kept unconscious for a few days as a result.
"While they’re unconscious they will be watched, kept well-hydrated via an intravenous drip – their throat is out of bounds because they have swelling there or in their airways – and very meticulous airway care."
(Photo: PA)
(Photo: The People)
Dr Tunnicliff also revealed staff were ready and waiting with cyanide poisoning kits as the foam found in old sofas and other upholsteries emits extremely dangerous toxins when burned.
When untreated foam is ignited, it burns extremely fast, reaching temperatures over 760 degrees celsius within minutes.
But what makes it even more deadly is the toxic gas produced when it burns.
Untreated foam emits hydrogen cyanide gas, which causes reduced oxygen, and when combined with carbon monoxide, is deadly.
Just one breath of superheated toxic gas can completely incapacitate a person.
(Photo: AFP)
Around 60 people were rushed to six hospitals across London this morning and scores of people are still missing.
Dr Tunnicliff said the injured at King's were a mixture of children and adults, both men and women, ranging in age from four or five to middle age.
As debris continued to tumble from the building this afternoon, one witness described seeing a "child on fire" jump from the 22nd floor as the blaze took hold.
Another, who lost friends in the inferno, broke down in tears during a TV interview and said: "We saw a lot. We saw a lot."
(Photo: PA)
(Photo: SWNS.com)
The last fire in London to claim more fatalities than Grenfell Tower was the Kings Cross London Underground blaze in 1987.
The cause of this morning's inferno is also still not known - as fire chiefs claimed the blaze was "unprecedented" in modern times, not least in terms of the speed it spread.
Workers in white overalls and suited men from funeral companies were spotted removing bodies from the scene in west London this afternoon.
Fire chiefs revealed they have made it to the top of the building - and have searched most of the flats but are now using drones because the tower's "structural integrity" is a concern.
They say they do not expect to find any more survivors at this stage.
(Photo: John Nguyen/JNVisuals)
(Photo: Rex Features)
Built in 1974, Grenfell Tower was recently refurbished at a cost of £8.6 million, with work completed in May last year.
Rydon, the firm that carried it out, said its work "met all required building control, fire regulation, and health and safety standards".
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: "There will be a great many questions over the coming days as to the cause of this tragedy and I want to reassure Londoners that we will get all the answers."
Nick Paget-Brown, leader of Kensington and Chelsea Borough, said: "Clearly, looking further ahead there needs to be a full investigation into the cause of this fire, why it started and why it appears to have spread so rapidly."
The Metropolitan Police have set up a casualty bureau for anyone concerned about their friends and family on 0800 0961 233.