Taiwan Church News

3305 Edition

June 29 - July 5, 2015

Headline News

Water Park Inferno: MacKay Memorial Hospital Pledges To Rescue With Full Strength And Urges Prayer For The Victims

Reported by Lin Yi-yin

In the evening on June 27, when a 'Color Play Asia' party was held in Formosa Fun Coast water park in New Taipei City's Bali District, after chunks of color powder sprayed above the party goers in front of the main stage, an unexpected explosion suddenly blasted with instant fire causing about five hundreds people burned and injured immediately. Most of the victims were in their late teens or 20s.

As Mackay Memorial Hospital(MMH) in Tamsui District is the nearest medicalstation close to the blasting site, volumes of burnt patients flooded into her emergency center seeking for help. An emergency operation mechanism in both Taipei and Tamsui MMH was instantly launched, under the command and co-ordination of Deputy Superintendent of MMH - Dr. Shih Shou-chuan, recruiting over 300 doctors and nurses back to support and witnessing the medical missionary spirit of MMH in her motto: "Go To Where There Is Need!"

Dr. Young Yu-cheng, Superintendent of MMH, expressed that the patients receivedin both Taipei and Tamsui MMH reached 83 as the highest. Deducting some patients with lighter injuries, up to June 29 there were 56 patients received by MMH : 8 in Burn Center; 22 in Intensive Care Unit(ICU); 26 in general ward. Current admission criteria for a burnt patient in MMH is thus: if the burnt area among the whole skin was above 50%, then she would be admitted into Burn Center or ICU; if she was burnt between 10% - 40%, then a general ward would be arranged.

Dr. Shih Shou-chuan said these burnt patients need a long term medical care.Except a routine cleaning of the wounds, some respiratory injuries caused by inhaling extremely hot air also need to be dealt with. As the initial 10 days after the inferno was the critical period, Dr. Shih urged the Taiwan society to give their blessings and prayers for the victims.

According to the victims name list collected by PCT's Church and Society Committee up to June 29, there were four PCT aboriginal youths and one nurse of MMH got seriously burnt. One youth, who got burnt over 80%, from Pai-wan presbytery; two youths from Tayal presbytery; the other one from Bunun presbytery. PCT's Church and Society Committee and Indigenous Ministry Committee expressed that representatives would be sent to visit and comfort these injured youths.

Translated by Peter Wolfe