TREATMENT OF SEVERE BURNS AFTER THE EXPLOSION INCIDENT IN BRAZZAVILLE/REP. OF CONGO ON THE 4^TH OF MARCH 2012

Summary

OBJECTIVE:
This article will present an overview of the situation at hand and also provide a case report of the treatment of a severely burned patient under disaster situations like those reported by L. C. Cancio and B. Pruitt [1].

MATERIALS AND METHOD:
On March 4th 2012 an explosion in an Army Ammunitions Depot led to 246 casualties and more than 1945 injured. The Depot it self was situated right within the city-limits of Brazzaville, a one million inhabitant’s city. On the morning of the 4th at 8.00 the city was shaken by a gigantic explosion. The shockwave of the explosion was even felt in the city of Kinshasa, on the other side of the Congo river, a distance no less than 20 km away from the initial impact site. In the fi rst hour after the main explosion several minor explosions were felt and reported.

RESULTS:
A common psychological refl ex to the explosion was fear of another civil war. These secondary explosions occurred due to the ongoing explosion of bullets and grenades and aggravated the emergency at hand. Among the victims were fi rst responders, fi re and police brigades.

CONCLUSION:
Among the various blast injuries severe burns and open fractures were among the dominant injury patterns. Treatment of burn patients with Suprathel^®, a special biological skin dressing material, was performed.

KEY WORDS:
Disaster, explosion, blast injuries, burns, open fractures.