Follow up of explosion in southeastern Nicaragua near Nueva Guinea.
May 11, 2014 about 20 people were having social family gathering, two propane gas tanks were in the in the kitchen, one of the tanks had a leak. When a person in the kitchen lit a match, this triggered a major explosion and fire in the building. 4 perished including a nine month old child. 17 were severely burned, 6 in critical condition.
Doctor Leandro Perez, Plastic Surgeon and W/NP Volunteer, was contacted by the physicians caring for the patients and asked to facilitate post initial treatment care for the survivors through the W/NP Therapy Dressing Project. The patients traveled 11 hours to the Managua Office for their first visit on July 12, 2014 where the Therapy Dressing volunteers constructed custom made garments to help in their healing process.
Click here for July visit report
A second visit to the W/NP Managua Office was made possible on August 16th with assistance from the Juigalpa Hospital director and the Ministry of Health. Dr. Quintana, plastic surgeon resident from Lenin Fonseca and volunteer with the Therapy Dressing Project provided assistance and evaluation.
An interesting dialogue surfaced as the burned patients who live in the same community of Nueva Guinea do not see each other often as the nearest distance between them is 3 miles in very rural and mountainous terrain.
The third visit is scheduled for November 22nd, same day as W/NP Annual Meeting, so the patients will join our meeting via SKYPE and share their experiences.