Firemen's Health Worsens, Doctors Made Mistake?

The condition of the injured fire-fighters keeps deteriorating.   

Josip Lucic's kidneys have begun to fail and he is also having difficulties with the respiratory system. One of the fire-fighters who were taken to hospital in Split is also in critical condition. 

In the meantime, fireman Karlo Severdija, who is being treated at the Zagreb traumatology clinic, is still critical after his condition deteriorated last night and the doctors had to postpone the surgery that was to remove the dead tissue from his body. 

Doctors too late with the skin transplant? 

While the fire-fighters are fighting for their lives, allegations emerged suggesting that doctors were too late with the skin transplant. World renowned plastic surgeon Milomir Ninkovic, who had also operated on the late Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan, says the same, reports Slobodna Dalmacija.  

Dr. Ninkovic says that the burned fire-fighters should have gotten synthetic skin grafts as soon as in the first several hours upon being admitted to hospital. The Croatian doctors did not provide treatment to the wounded men in time in his opinion. 

- Putting synthetic skin is part of the protocol in treating the injured at the very beginning, which is a temporary solution, until the patient has regained enough strength to undergo transplant surgery. Without applying a synthetic product on the first day of the accident, chances of survival are small - Ninkovic told Slobodna Dalmacija. 

"Synthetic skin transplant possible only with minor burns" 

Dr. Drasko Boljkovac, vice-chairman of the traumatology clinic, has responded to Dr. Ninkovic's claims by saying that every burn has its own course of evolution and that it is only possible to apply synthetic skin in patients with minor burns, but not with patients with major burns, which is the case with the fire-fighters.