SYDNEY, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- As the Australian victims of this week's volcanic eruption in New Zealand return home for treatment, the rarity and extent of their injuries is posing a challenge for local doctors.
So far, 11 victims who were on the White Island volcano when it erupted have returned home to hospitals in the Australian States of New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria, with another two due to arrive on Friday.
Director of Concord Hospital's burns unit in NSW, Dr Peter Haertsch told reporters that those near the crater at the time of the eruption were enveloped in a cloud of "extremely hot gases and also volcanic material such as pumice and dust."
Haertsch said that the five patients at his hospital had burns ranging from 7 percent to 65 percent of their body, as well as inhalation burns, the extent of which remains to be seen.
The nature of the burns is something unlike which Haertsch's team has seen before, which he said would require further study.
"We're thinking it's purely sulfuric acid. For that reason I've said we should send some material for chemical analysis," Haertsch said.
"There will be a lot of papers written about this; there's very little in the (medical) literature in respect to the management of volcanic burns because they're not all that common."
A number of the patients remain in a critical condition as doctors work to remove burned tissue which Haertsch said is "quite toxic," before they can undergo procedures to repair the damage.
"Surgery started yesterday, it continues today and I would expect we have the bulk of the burn wounds sized and the resurfacing of the burn wound would take place over the sequential surgical procedures," Haertsch said.
"Psychologists and psychiatrists visit these patients everyday and they will have treatment for months of painful dressing a grafting."
Meanwhile, local communities have rallied around those affected, with some people showing up at hospitals offering to donate their skin.
However according to the Donor Tissue Bank of Victoria's website, in Australia skin can only be donated from deceased donors.
