Responding to mass burn casualties caused by corn powder at the Formosa Water Park in 2015.

Abstract

On the night of June 27th, 2015, a tragedy occurred while young people were celebrating the start of their summer break at the Formosa Fun Water Park in New Taipei City, Taiwan. At 8:32 PM, a blast caused by flammable cornstarch- based powder injured 499 people, including nine interna- tional tourists from five countries. Among the injured, half suffered burns over 40% of their body surface area (BSA), and 75% suffered from second or third degree burns to >20% BSA. The Taiwan emergency health care system encountered a very difficult challenge, and high fatality rates were ex- pected based on the seriousness of the injuries. The explosion was accidentally ignited from an over- heated spotlight on the stage in a dry swimming pool when colored powders were sprayed over the crowd. The un- precedented number of burn casualties caused panic in the Taiwanese public, and also brought into question the appropriateness of how ambulances were dispatched and the care received in the hospitals. On the night of June 27th, 2015, a tragedy occurred while young people were celebrating the start of their summer break at the Formosa Fun Water Park in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Immediately after the blast, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) activated its two Regional Emergency Medical Operation Centers, notifying all emergency-designated hospitals to recall their medical personnel and prepare for mass burn casualties, and to report individual patient information and the number of patients entering each hospital. Facing the geographical limitations of the water park and the tremendous numbers of the injured, New Taipei and Taipei City dispatched >70 ambulances to the scene, along with ambulances from the cities of Keelung and Taoyuan, with the hospitals in these four cities volunteering to support the rescue. For better on-site response, the Ministry assisted in collaboration with the hospitals to set up on-site medical stations, and urged local health departments in these four cities to ensure that all burn units and intensive care units under their jurisdictions were well-prepared for the injured. With the intense cooperation and collaboration of fire departments and health departments, almost all of the 499 injured were sent to hospitals within an incredibly short period within 4 hours after the blast. The surge capacity of emergency rooms handling the injured was triggered in a very efficient way. It allowed these emergency rooms to obtain adequate staff, supplies, and equipment, as well as structures and systems to provide sufficient care to meet the immediate needs of patients following such a large-scale incident. Suffering from severe burns combined with inhalation pulmonary injuries, patients were unstable, and further intensive care was required. Patients were transferred to several hospitals with better burn-unit facilities to ensure the best medical care. Initially, the injured were treated in six hospitals in three cities in northern Taiwan. After they were stabilized, patients were distributed to 38 hospitals in seven cities by the following morning, with this distribution widened to 54 hospitals in 13 cities nationwide after 1 week. By the end of the 1st week, due to the less severely injured patients being discharged, patient distribution dropped to 46 hospitals in 13 cities... Language: en