A national plan to deal with major health emergencies in the event of fires and explosions causing mass burns, which Italy currently lacks and which would however be essential in order not to cause the health system to go haywire and be found unprepared in the event of sudden tragedies. This is the request of SiUst, the Italian Burn Society, from its 24th national congress in Viareggio, from where it launches an appeal to the government and European institutions to deal with ‘Burn Mass Casualty Incidents’ (Bmci), defined by WHO among the more difficult disasters to manage. The choice of location is not accidental: SiUst chooses Viareggio as the base of the congress, where the massacre at the railway station took place in 2009. A derailed train caused the explosion of a LPG tank, causing 32 deaths and over 100 injuries. In managing that emergency, recalled at the inauguration of the congress with a video of memories and testimonies, according to SiUst president Antonio Di Lonardo, who experienced the tragedy firsthand, the limits of our health response system became apparent.
“In Italy even less than 10 severely burned patients are enough to create a maxi national emergency – confirms Antonio Di Lonardo, director of the Great Burns Center of Pisa and president of SiUst – We have few available beds, few burn centers and poorly distributed throughout the territory national”. In the current scenario, if necessary “we do not know where to accommodate patients and how to welcome them in burn centres, which are the places assigned to their treatment”.
“It is essential to have specific training for those who help – he adds – The burn centers are not only few, but they are also run down, always understaffed. We have difficulties with supplies, with the materials we need. There are not enough stocks of medicines, medical devices that are rapidly consumed in the event of a major emergency”.
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