Doctors treating victims injured in the New Zealand volcano eruption are waiting on an order of more than a million square centimetres of human skin.
At least six people have died and 30 people are in hospital – among them two British women – with all but five in a stable but serious condition. Nine people remain missing but police say this is not a complete list as officers have not yet spoken to all next of kin.
Counties Manukau District Health Board’s chief medical officer Dr Peter Watson told reporters 22 patients were on airway support “due to the severity of their burns and other injuries”.
Australia’s Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine has sent 10,000 sq cm of skin, as has the Organ and Tissue donation service in Sydney.
According to TVNZ, the skin is donated from people who have died. It is applied to wounds after the dead tissue has been removed from the burns and is then stapled.
Watson added that supplies – including an additional 1.2m square centimetres of skin – would be needed to meet patient demand and will be ordered from the United States.
This is equivalent size to a fifth of a penalty area on a football pitch.
“The nature of the burns suffered is complicated by the gases and chemicals in the eruption,” he said.
Dr John Kenealy, clinical director of surgery and perioperative services at the country’s national burns unit, said the situation was “certainly unprecedented”, adding that some patients have up to 95% burns.
The alert level of a further eruption is at three, on a scale of one to five.
Graham Leonard, of the Institute of Geological and Nuclear sciences, said conditions on the island are worsening.
He added: “There are two key risks [on the ground]. One: environmental. This is highly wind varying, but at times it will be challenging for breathing, seeing or walking on the island, and at other times clear.
“Second of all, there is the risk of another eruption like Monday’s eruption while on the island.”
He said the risk of a further eruption in the next 24 hours like that seen on Monday had increased to between 40% and 60%, from 30% to 50%.
National operation commander Deputy Commissioner John Tims said: “The environment on the island has changed. [There has been] increased activity from earlier this morning.
“We are standing by to go back to that island.
“We are confident on our ability to deliver the rescue operation. But that is after we are sure that we can manage the real dangers that are on the island.”
Coroner Deborah Marshall said her office would work with pathologists, disaster specialists and odontologists to identify victims and return them to their families.
She said: “The highest standards are set to ensure the victims are correctly identified and returned to their loved ones.
“Depending on how long it takes to retrieve the deceased from the island, it could be some weeks before all the deceased are identified.”
The dead are thought to be buried beneath piles of ash, with most of the 47 people on the island at the time of the eruption believed to be from Australia.
Many were passengers on board the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Ovation Of The Seas, including Julie Richards and her daughter Jessica.
Family friend John Mickel told reporters: “You obviously live in hope that’s it not going to be your loved one’s name that comes up, but the hope was snuffed out this morning with the message from the New Zealand police.”
On Tuesday, prime minister Jacinda Ardern told parliament the “scale of this tragedy is devastating”.
White Island, also known by the Maori name Whakaari, is the tip of an undersea volcano 30 miles off the coast.
Scientists had noted an increase in volcanic activity in recent weeks, leading to questions as to why tourists were still being allowed on the island.