Fire Disasters

During the 1980s the UK saw 3 devastating fire disasters. Plastic Surgeons were instrumental in the treatment of survivors. The response to these events saw Plastic Surgeons instrumental in orchestrating a multidiscipline team, as well as pioneering charity work for burns survivors.

The Bradford City Football Club fire (1985) killed 53 people and injured 250.  A Plastic Surgery team was assembled and they worked tirelessly to reconstruct the victims who had suffered deep, full thickness burns.  The Kings Cross Underground fire (1987) killed 31 and 60 suffered severe burns from the high intensity heat.  Former BAPS president Michael Brough pulled together a multidisciplinary team to treat survivors, a concept which was unusual in medical care at the time.  Brough was moved by the suffering of burns survivors once the loss of life danger was passed.  He called for greater psychological support for survivors of disasters such as this, particularly those who go on to live with significant scarring.  Brough worked with a team to found the Phoenix Appeal to support the emotional well being of those who survived the disaster. This organisation had grown and expanded, operating today as the Scar Free Foundation. In 1988 the Alpha Piper Oil rig disaster killed 167 people with only 59 survivors. Patients even suffered scalp burns where their plastic helmets melted in the heat. Radiation burns were inflicted which require observation for hours after they occur.  In this event, triage was hampered by men jumping into the freezing Atlantic sea to escape the fire, thus risking hyperthermia as well.  A team of plastic surgeons were sent to attend the survivors of the fire.