Staying safe the best Christmas present
One of the biggest things we can do in the wake of the White Island tragedy is to be grateful for our existence and recognise the risks that life poses.
One of the lessons of working in emergency departments is that life is precious, life is fragile, and life can end at any time.
I imagine many of us will remember where we were when we heard White Island had erupted.
I have been to White Island three times. On my trip last year, we met tour guides and they recounted the last tragedy in
1914 when 10 people lost their lives in a lahar at the now abandoned sulphur works.
It is an amazing place and the sea life is prolific. Thousands of people have visited and been inspired and awed by an active volcano bursting from an azure sea.
The juxtaposition of such an experience to the horror of what happened is magnified when seeing your work colleagues on television, clinical but distressed in their description of what they found.
I have always found burns difficult to deal with on all sorts of levels as an emergency department doctor, so I can only imagine the trauma that those injured and those having to treat them are experiencing.
Then the tragedy of those who have died and the collective pain of their loved ones who have lost futures is also magnified.
What is different about this is the scale, the mechanism and the location.
What strikes me as we encounter the festive season and seeing my colleagues describing trauma, triage and tragedy, is my experience of 30 festive seasons in or around emergency departments in our country.
The burns, the injuries, the tears and the pain of telling people that their loved ones are severely maimed, or dead, are memories that haunt us, as will the images of those who have been involved in this latest disaster.
I am reminded of the humanity of our professions and the risks we take every day as we turn up to work to aid the ill, the injured and the hurt.
To the ambulance, fire and police who respond to volatile situations and suburban volcanoes fuelled by booze and anger, to the fireworks that go wrong, the New Year’s Eve bonfires that aren’t properly extinguished and the burns of the innocent the day after.
To the thousands of staff that miss Christmas as they staff GP clinics and hospitals and emergency services, we thank you.
One of the biggest things we can do in the wake of the White Island tragedy is to be grateful for our existence and recognise the risks that life poses.
For those who seek adventure, there are always risks. However, we can reduce the risks by drinking alcohol sensibly or not at all and being vigilant on the roads and around the hazards unique to this time of year.
Look after yourselves and each other and spare yourself the pain and suffering you have seen recently, because it happens every day.
Be grateful and respectful of those who try to care for you.
The best present we could get is for you to stay safe this festive season and enjoy the life you have.