‘It’s what we trained for, nothing was left to chance’

THERE was an air of hushed expectation as news of the fatal plane crash began to circulate among staff and patients at Cork University Hospital yesterday morning.

Older residents in the Wilton area and hospital veterans of other disasters knew that CUH would be the centre of an emergency operation.

Shortly before 11am, the scream of garda and ambulance sirens heralded the arrival of the first of six survivors. It had been assumed that other hospitals in the region would be called on to assist but the region’s premier hospital was well able to cope. A ward in the hospital, adjacent to the emergency department was cleared for casualties and the emergency system clicked into gear.