A nurse who responded to the tragedy that saw five primary school children die when a jumping castle was blown into the air has described the trauma of attending to the victims.
An emergency physician in Tasmania says they train for disaster events but that is not enough to handle something like the bouncy castle tragedy. Photo: 123RF
A gust of wind on Thursday lifted the jumping castle, which was erected on Devonport's Hillcrest Primary School grounds for the last day of school event.
Five children died after falling from the height of 10 metres as the castle took off, three are in hospital and one was discharged from hospital yesterday.
Tasmania Police yesterday released the names of the victims: Addison Stewart, 11, Zane Mellor, 12, Jye Sheehan, 12, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, 12 and Peter Dodt, 12.
People across the state yesterday paid tributes to the children, laying toys, flowers and notes outside the school, as Tasmania police continued to investigate how the jumping castle became airborne.
The victims from the left: Peter Dodt, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Zane Mellor. Photo: Supplied / Tasmania police
One first responder wanted to reach out "on behalf of the medical teams" who "worked [their] hearts out" to save the grade 5 and 6 students.
"I'm a nurse who just happened to be on shift as the code brown was called," they wrote on social media.
"The ED [emergency department] was frantic, preparing bays for incoming trauma, in a facility that has never seen this kind of event."
The nurse said the first responders went "above and beyond their calling", with doctors from other hospitals, on their day off, driving in to help.
"All I can say about the way this hospital pulled it together is [it was] phenomenal," the nurse wrote.
The nurse described "the tears when told some children hadn't made it" and "the relief when one was better off than we thought", referring to the student who was discharged.
"I've been watching the news. I've seen the kids who made it to the hospital. It's devastating to read that there was another we couldn't save. And the hope that the others pull through," the nurse wrote.
'Not sure how any of us can get through this'
The Royal Hobart Hospital's emergency physician, Juan Carlos Ascensio Lane, extended his condolences to the families of the victims.
He said he had reached out to his colleagues and friends who were involved in the care of the victims.
"I fear that this event will take its toll mentally on so many of those within our family," the chair of the Tasmanian faculty of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) said.
"We do train for these events … but never, ever do you expect to have to face an event like this.
"Certainly, there'll be some people, it'll rock [them] to their core today. For others, it may take a little bit of time to feel the full impact.
"I'm not sure how any one of us can get through this. This is a massive event. But we'll be there to support each other."
ACEM thanked the "tremendous efforts" of local paramedics, police, GPs, Rotorlift Aviation and other first responders.
Help available for those affected
Emily Shepherd from the Australian Nurses and Midwives Federation Tasmania branch said some nurses had already sought psychological help to process the traumatic events.
"They're absolutely distressed. It's an absolutely traumatic situation, and they're all devastated for the families of the children and the broader impact that this has had," she said.
"There are supports in place in terms of debriefing and counselling services being provided to those that were directly impacted.
"We have heard from our members … that the teams in each of the locations, where children were treated, worked very hard to give the absolute best quality care that they can."
"Even if you are a frontline responder and have responded to events like this in the past, it doesn't make it any easier."
Tasmania's Department of Health said its thoughts were with the families and friends of the students.
"We would also like to acknowledge our first responders and staff who have been involved in the incident and would be deeply affected," it said in a statement.
Both the Department of Health and Department of Education have mobilised "significant" state-wide resources to support those affected, including school psychologists, social workers and chaplains.
-ABC
