Scarcity of Skin Prompts New Zealand to Order More

(Photo : Donor Tissue Bank of Victoria)
The Australian-based Donor Tissue Bank of Victoria pledged to provide the needed skin to New Zealand.

New Zealand is currently in need of about 1,300 square feet of skin for the volcanic eruption victim, health authorities said on Wednesday.

It is previously reported that 27 victims were confined at the burns unit due to the injuries the volcanic ash and gas brought to them.

Although there is an available skin supply, it is not enough to sustain the need for the dressing and temporary skin grafts the burn victims needed, said Peter Watson of the District Health Boards. The country needs least 1.2 million square centimeters (around 1,300 square feet) more, Watson also added.

The close proximity of the victims to the volcano during the eruption has caused this massive demand for the skin. It is reported that 30 percent of some victim's body was covered with burns.

Most skins were ordered from the United States. The Donor Tissue Bank of Victoria, a skin and tissue bank operating in neighbouring Australia, also announced in its official Facebook page that they will also supply the skin.

According to an Australian government donation agency, donors can also register their skin to be donated after death. Most of these skin were taken from the donor's back or the back of their legs, and only a thin layer will be taken.

The skin is the largest organ in the body. In average, an adult human usually has 22 square feet of skin, according to National Geographic.

Death Toll Rose to 8

Since the volcano's eruption on Monday, eight people were confirmed to have died, with two Australian teenagers as the latest addition to the list.

Berend Hollander, 16, and his younger brother, Matthew, 13, were among the rescued victims but have died in hospital due to the severity of their injuries. Both of their parents were still unaccounted for.

According to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the disaster has caught up 28 Australian citizens and permanent residents, including the Hollander brothers and three other patients who had died in the hospital earlier.

At least 10 Australian citizens were still stranded in the island and presumed dead.

Five Australian citizens were already transferred to their home country's hospital via air travel. The transport has gone "exceptionally well", according to Dr. Ashley Bloomfield, the director-general of health in New Zealand.

Another eight Australian, including one permanent resident, will be transferred on Thursday.

Twenty-one patients that require the "highest level of care" still remained in the burns units in New Zeland and the medical experts were putting "unbelievable commitment" for them, Dr. Bloomfield also added.

Dr. Bloomfield also confirmed that more medical assistance from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia are expected to come.

Because of another steam eruption on Wednesday, the recovery operations were hampered again. Instead, four aerial surveys using drones was conducted, which irked the locals because of the "slow emergency response", especially since early rescue missions became possible thanks to the bravery of some private helicopter pilots.

 Police deputy commissioner John Tims promised that they will not rest until the bodies were recovered to put the "increasingly anxious" families of the victims at rest.

ALSO READ: Missing Persons Feared Dead in White Island Crisis