{"id":91070,"date":"2019-07-04T16:26:38","date_gmt":"2019-07-04T23:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=91070"},"modified":"2019-07-04T16:26:38","modified_gmt":"2019-07-04T23:26:38","slug":"easter-sunday-bomb-blast-in-sri-lanka-part-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/07\/04\/easter-sunday-bomb-blast-in-sri-lanka-part-9\/","title":{"rendered":"EASTER SUNDAY BOMB BLAST IN SRI LANKA Part 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

This essay deals\nwith two aspects of the bomb blast which do not get much attention. The bomb blasts\nsent many people to hospitals with grave injuries. This brought pressure on the\nhospitals concerned.  Sunday Times did an\ninterview on this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The major hospitals worked with clinical\nprecision, at very short notice, in the wake of the Easter Sunday suicide bombings\nthat shook the country, said Sunday Times. The call to the National Hospital\nSri Lanka (NHSL) came just after 8.45 a.m. on April 21, about the Kochchikade\nChurch and three five-star hotel blasts and into action they went, with all the\nkey\u201d people of the Disaster Management Committee being informed immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 As soon\nas the operator informed me that the telephone exchange had got the alert, I\nput our plan into action,\u201d says the Deputy Director-General (NHSL), Dr. Kumara\nWickremasinghe of this 3,500-bed facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was informed of multiple blasts\u201d and to\nexpect a large number of casualties\u201d and so the emergency wheels began\nturning, with him at the helm as the casualties were brought in a rush to the\nNHSL\u2019s Accident & Orthopaedic Service which is considered the Level 1\nTrauma Centre in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More operating theatres were opened up,\nadditional Intensive Care Units (ICUs) made ready and the neuro-trauma teams\nbrought in,\u201d he says, adding that resources such as sterile linen were\nreallocated from other parts of the NHSL. Later many outside donations flowed\nin<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.Initially dispatching its own ambulances, he\ncalled for support from the Colombo South (Kalubowila), Colombo North (Ragama),\nCastle Street and Lady Ridgeway Hospitals in transferring the dead and injured\nfrom the blast site . 20-25 ambulances plying back and forth with sirens\nscreaming and red lights flashing. This was while casualties were also being\nbrought in private vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pointing out that within a short time of about\none hour, they received 267 people, Dr. Wickremasinghe explains that three\nweeks before, the NHSL had rehearsed the contingency plan as they usually do\nquite often. He explains how they dealt with this mass of casualties\nsystematically \u2013 as soon as a casualty arrived, he\/she was tagged with a\nnumber, which number would later be on the Bed-Head Ticket (BHT). Thereafter,\n\u2018triaging\u2019 took place to rush the severely injured to a resuscitation room,\nwith the less severely injured (second level) being taken to a different area\nand those with minor injuries elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a similar scenario at the Negombo\nDistrict General Hospital. When the telephone operator informed Director Dr.\nChandraguptha Ranasinghe, he had immediately contacted the Police to verify the\nbomb attack and get an insight into the number and type of casualties. The\nreply had been mass casualties\u201d. Quickly invoking the Disaster Management\nPlan, the relevant personnel had got into position quickly. Having six\nambulances, Dr. Ranasinghe had requested institutions close by for support,\nmustering the services of 24 ambulances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time the casualties came in soon after\n9 a.m., the \u2018Triage Area\u2019 with a Consultant and his team had been in place,\nassessing them and transferring them to the Primary Care Unit, OT, ICU or\nwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the bodies were checked to confirm that\nthere were no life-signs and sent to the temporary mortuary outside the OPD\npremises and kept for identification,\u201d says Dr. Ranasinghe, explaining that\nConsultant Judicial Medical Officers (JMOs) were rushed to the blast site to\ncarry out analysis and secure evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also alerted all nearby institutions such\nas the Chilaw, Marawila, Gampaha and Ragama Hospitals and the JMO offices of\nMannar and Kurunegala as he realized that if there was a large influx of\nbodies, there could be a delay in their release if there was a shortfall of\nJMOs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked the JMOs to come with their teams,\ndissecting crews and equipment,\u201d says Dr. Ranasinghe who quickly got his staff\nto set up temporary dissecting rooms in four garages and also a temporary\npolice post as well as a temporary magisterial post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The postmortems started around 3 p.m. on\nSunday, as they had to await the holding of the magisterial inquiry at the\nblast site. With 11 JMO stations working from 3 p.m. on Sunday to 1 a.m.\nMonday, 84 bodies had been released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a back-up plan, Dr. Ranasinghe had got in\ntouch with the Defence Ministry and the Health Ministry\u2019s Disaster Management\nCentre to secure two mobile coolers (40-foot and 20-foot respectively) to store\nthe bodies and prevent decomposition in case there was a delay. However, the\nJMOs had worked throughout and by 11 a.m. on Monday, the day after the bombing,\nmore bodies had been released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Negombo Hospital Director appreciates the\ngreat help\u201d extended by many including the respective Medical Superintendents\n(MSs) and Directors of the hospitals such as Chilaw, Marawila, Gampaha, Ragama\nand NHSL; Health Ministry officials including Dr. Champika Wickramasinghe and\nDeputy Director-General (Planning) Dr. Sridharan Sathasivam; regional and\nprovincial health officials and Gampaha District Secretary Sunil Jayalath.\nDonations of dry rations, clothes, water, medical equipment and consumables had\nflowed in from non-governmental organizations and private organizations. Post-disaster,\nthe Negombo Hospital has held an in-depth debriefing to focus on any deviations\nfrom the recommendations and why and what the way forward should be, both\nimmediate and long-term. ( Sunday Times 28.4.19 p 8)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bomb blasts killed the wage earners of\nfamilies and orphaned several children. The Yahapalana government felt obliged\nto do something about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the instructions of Prime Minister Ranil\nWickremesinghe who is also the Minister of National Policies, Economic Affairs,\nResettlement, Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development and Youth Affairs,\ncompensation cheques for deaths and injuries caused by the Easter Sunday\nsuicide bomb attacks on St. Sebastian\u2019s Church at Katuwapitiya, were\ndistributed in May 2019. .Secretary to the Ministry of National Policies, V.\nSivagnanasothy said that compensation was paid for 89 deaths and 130 injuries\n.The payment was made on 16.05.2019 at Cardinal Cooray Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sivagnanasothy said that the Prime Minister\npresented a Cabinet Paper and obtained approval of the Cabinet of Ministers for\nthe payment of compensation of Rs. 1 million per death and a maximum of Rs.\n500,000 for injuries based on the degree of disability\/impaired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“With regard to Property damages, a\nmaximum of Rs.5 million based on the Chief Valuer\u2019s report has also been\napproved for payment. The costs of rehabilitation\/reconstruction of the damaged\nChurches are to be met by the Ministry of National Policies, Economic Affairs,\nResettlement & Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development and Youth\nAffairs and work to be undertaken by the Sri Lanka Army and Sri Lanka Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Accordingly, already Rs. 10 million has been\npaid as an advance to St. Sebastian\u2019s Church, Rs. 10 million for Kochchikade\nChurch and Rs. 5 million for St. Zion Church in Batticaloa, on the directive of\nthe Prime Minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“”Office for Reparations of the Ministry\nof National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement, Rehabilitation, Northern\nProvince Development and Youth Affairs is entrusted with the implementation of\nthe compensation package payment for the attack that took place at the St.\nSebastian\u2019s Church at Katuwapitiya. For St. Sebastian\u2019s Church at Katuwapitiya,\na sum of Rs. 81.7 million has been already paid for 89 deaths, while Rs.13.1\nmillion has been paid for the 137 injuries reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Similarly, for St. Anthony\u2019s Church at\nKochchikade and other places in Colombo where the attacks took place, a sum of\nRs. 18.4 million has been paid for 27 deaths and Rs. 1.3 million for four\ninjuries has been paid. Further, Rs.21.2 million has been paid for 27 deaths,\nwhile Rs. 3.7 million for 35 injuries has been already paid for the suicide\nbomb attack which took place in St. Zion Church at Batticaloa. A total\ncompensation of Rs. 121 million for 143 deaths and Rs. 18.1 million for 176\ninjuries has been paid. Further, the balance payments for the victims will be paid\non submission of necessary supporting documents The compensation packages are\nexpected to be fully completed within 10 days covering all the affected parties\nas instructed by the Prime Minister”, Sivagnanasothy said.[1]<\/a> (continued)
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> Island 22.5.19 3 modern used no 23 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS This essay deals with two aspects of the bomb blast which do not get much attention. The bomb blasts sent many people to hospitals with grave injuries. This brought pressure on the hospitals concerned.  Sunday Times did an interview on this. The major hospitals worked with clinical precision, at very short notice, in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91070\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}