Emergency care ‘highlight’ of surgeon’s career
A Christchurch Hospital surgeon says helping save the life of a 4-year-old girl after the Christchurch terror attack was the highlight of his career.
At a press conference yesterday, vascular surgeon Adib Khanafer said he was called into the theatre and saw the young girl, Alen Alsati, sitting on the operation table with serious vascular injuries.
‘‘The bullet has really hit an area in the vein, which is really very difficult to repair ... the bullet has damaged the pelvis and lower arteries have been cut.’’
He found it difficult to control his emotions.
‘‘I have four kids, the youngest is 7 and the oldest is 14. I imagine that this is one of my kids. I was able to perform my job, I left my emotion out of it,’’ Khanafer said.
‘‘I managed to repair [the injuries]. It was definitely the highlight of my career as a vascular surgeon.’’
Yesterday, Alsati was in a critical condition in Starship children’s hospital but Khanafer was hopeful.
‘‘I’ve been speaking with Auckland surgeons and she’s critical but I’m optimistic, I think she’s going to come out.’’
Her father, Wasseim Alsati, was also injured in the mosque attacks. He was shot three times and underwent several surgeries at Christchurch Hospital.
His condition has since improved to the point where he has been transferred to Auckland to be with his wife and daughter.
As an Arab, Khanafer said he knew two people who died in the attack, including one of his patients. ‘‘My wife knows – as a woman, in her circles – she knows most of them . . . we knew some of them, we visited some of them. All my colleagues haven’t stop texting me and emailing me and sending me flowers.’’
Emergency department associate clinical nurse manager Tracey Williams said she was in a meeting when news filtered through of a serious incident.
The department’s major incident response plan is activated when five or more patients come from one event. This time, they had 48 in one hour.
‘‘It still feels surreal, process it,’’ she said.
‘‘When you’re in it at that time, you concentrate on what you’ve got to do for the patients. Because you’re the nursing leader, you have to stay calm and focused . . . you have to stay in that frame of mind for your staff and patients.
She wanted to thank the people who had sent the department food and gifts, saying it was ‘‘incredibly generous, overwhelming and wonderful.’’
Dr Dominic Fleischer is the leader for the hospital’s trauma service and he led the emergency department’s response on Friday.
Two patients came through with glass injuries, as they had broken through a window. They ran to the hospital and told staff they would have ‘‘many more’’ in the next few minutes.
Usually the hospital saw one or two gunshot injuries a month, but only one or two critically injured gunshot patients a year.
‘‘To get 48 in one day, is exceptional. I think it’d be exceptional for any hospital in the world.’’
Twenty-nine people remain in hospital, eight in a critical condition. Canterbury district health board chief executive David Meates said one victim had been discharged on Tuesday but ‘‘a number of these patients will be with us for a long period of time. ’’ I can’t