In the minuscule hours of Wednesday morning, September 9th, I woke up in a sweat after a mosquito ransacked my leg. My next conscious observation was a popping sound somewhere in the neighbourhood, like hail or rain falling hard nearby. After a few moments I realized that it doesn't hail in St. Lucia, and that no rain had moved to the apartment. Minutes later, a BOOM woke up everyone in the area who wasn't already awake. Thunder? It's not raining.
Curiosity drew me out of bed, and I looked out the window in the living room. The sky was orange. No, the sky was dark, it was a huge plume of smoke that was orange. My heart pounded as I dialed 999 to report the fire that they already knew about.
The St. Jude's Hospital, just a couple hundred yards from my house, was on fire.
I realized the next morning as more news came out that however much I feel I have integrated, there is still more to learn. Were I a real Lucian, I would have dressed and gone down the road to watch the blaze and find out what I could. Instead, I tried to fall asleep, only successful with a couple hours before I had to wake for work in the morning.
My TV had stopped working the week before, and I don't have a radio, so I didn't hear any official word until I got to VF Infant School.
The surgical ward burned nearly completely, and damage from smoke and water (pipes bursting and the long effort to extinguish the blaze) extended through much of the compound including the lab and the pediatric ward. I'm not sure if official reports have come out yet, but a sparking air conditioning unit is suspected as the culprit. Once the fire spread, oxygen and hydrogen tanks began to explode in the heat.
Initially most patients had been moved to VF Secondary School Campus B, just a few minutes ride away. Those in good condition were discharged, and those in critical condition were sent to Victoria Hospital in Castries. Two people died that night from the fire, and another on the way to Victoria. Many people suffered burns. The patients still in care in the South are now in the George Odlum Stadium, along with the administration and the pharmacy.
Before the fire engines arrived, nearby residents had begun rescuing people inside. One teacher at the VF Infant lives very close to the hospital, and she had to move everything out the house overnight and couldn't open the doors because of the polluted air. The hospital was built with plenty of asbestos, so workers the next few days all used respirators.
For more information, you can watch the video below or read this newspaper article, published Friday. In it questions are raised about whether the Hospital has had annual safety inspections (along with schools and other hospitals around the country), and whether it was insured.
Many sources are committing to funding the rebuilding, but I'm trying to find out from hospital admin what sorts of thing might be overlooked with all the stress. I'm looking into whether I can coordinate a fundraising effort by the PCVs on island to help with specific items, such as paying for lodging, meals, and services for the international medical volunteers the hospital has come to rely on. Most of the volunteers that were present at the time of the fire were sent home, but a few others were able to find places to stay temporarily.
St. Judes is the only general hospital for all of the south of St. Lucia; the two others are both located in Castries. It is of the utmost importance to everyone living in this area to have a fully functioning hospital. I hope that St. Judes will not be just restored, but renewed, in the very near future.
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