President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said that a group of US medical experts have commended Taiwan on its treatment of patients who suffered severe burns in a flash fire at the Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) water park in New Taipei City’s Bali District (八里) last month.
The experts in burns treatment, who visited Taiwan to offer advice, highly praised the work of the Taiwanese medical staff and the government’s efforts to assist the hundreds of burn victims, Ma said on Facebook.
Ma made the comment after meeting on Friday with a six-member team, which was led by Johns Hopkins Burn Center director Stephen Maxwell Milner.
“This was the first visit by the experts to Taiwan and they were impressed by Taiwan’s advanced medical equipment, techniques and the national health insurance system,” Ma said.
He said the people of Taiwan are very grateful for the assistance given by the US, Japan, China and other countries in the wake of the fire, which occurred when colored cornstarch powder sprayed over the crowds ignited and burst into flames during a party at the water park on June 27.
During their one-week stay that ended yesterday, the US team visited 12 hospitals to observe the treatment of the burn victims and shared their own expertise with their Taiwanese counterparts, Ma said.
In his post, Ma mentioned a particular case in which the US experts suggested the use of scrotal skin grafts to treat a severely burned patient.
The 22-year-old patient Huang Po-wei (黃博煒) has been recovering well since the graft was carried out earlier in the week, Ma said.
Huang suffered burns to more than 95 percent of his body.
As of yesterday, nine of the victims had died and 339 remained hospitalized, including 155 still listed as in critical condition, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
In related news, the Israel Economic and Cultural Office said on Friday that the Israeli government is to donate two skin graft meshers to Taiwan in an effort to help the burn victims.
The meshers are to be donated to the Tri-Service General Hospital and Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei next week, the office said.
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