Station nightclub fire leaves more victims than just the dead
As the first sentence is delivered in the 2003 nightclub fire which left 100 people dead, it's worth noting that there's even more to the tragedy than the dead victims, whose families finally got their day in court this week. New research indicates that even the survivors, burned or not, continue to experience ongoing suffering as a result of the tragedy.
On February 20, 2003, an 80's hair metal band played a roadhouse bar south of Providence. Part way through the set, the band's manager, Daniel Beichele, set off pyrotechnics which quickly ignited foam packing material surrounding the stage. Within seconds, the foam, mis-used as a sound-deadening device, caused flame to spread throughout the club. Minutes later, the club was engulfed, doorways were jammed, and 100 people were dead or dying.
Research conducted by Dr. Jeffrey Schneider of Boston's Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital underscores the impact of the fire on the 330 survivors, and represents the first study on a large group of people surviving a fatal fire.
Burn victims in the study, who averaged 42 days in the hospital, live with a wide range of problems: chronic pain, depression, loss of work, disfigurment. But even those who weren't burned are suffering, Schneider found.
Non-burned survivors scored significantly higher on an index assessing post-traumatic stress, and had slightly higher rates of depression than burn victims. And while their overall quality of life ratings are higher than those who continue to suffer the effects of burns, for the first time a body of research is indicating the need for continued treatment of all survivors of a major fire.
So while relatives of the dead can at last try to achieve some closure, 330 survivors whose stories are glaringly absent from court proceedings and newspaper coverage continue to live with the outcome of this disaster.
On February 20, 2003, an 80's hair metal band played a roadhouse bar south of Providence. Part way through the set, the band's manager, Daniel Beichele, set off pyrotechnics which quickly ignited foam packing material surrounding the stage. Within seconds, the foam, mis-used as a sound-deadening device, caused flame to spread throughout the club. Minutes later, the club was engulfed, doorways were jammed, and 100 people were dead or dying.
Research conducted by Dr. Jeffrey Schneider of Boston's Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital underscores the impact of the fire on the 330 survivors, and represents the first study on a large group of people surviving a fatal fire.
Burn victims in the study, who averaged 42 days in the hospital, live with a wide range of problems: chronic pain, depression, loss of work, disfigurment. But even those who weren't burned are suffering, Schneider found.
Non-burned survivors scored significantly higher on an index assessing post-traumatic stress, and had slightly higher rates of depression than burn victims. And while their overall quality of life ratings are higher than those who continue to suffer the effects of burns, for the first time a body of research is indicating the need for continued treatment of all survivors of a major fire.
So while relatives of the dead can at last try to achieve some closure, 330 survivors whose stories are glaringly absent from court proceedings and newspaper coverage continue to live with the outcome of this disaster.
posted by $!# at 5/11/2006 06:11:00 AM
1 Comments:
The band was Great White, wasn't it?
Purveyors of 1989's cover of "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" and, of course, the unforgettable '80s anthem "Rock Me"? Their lead singer always looked a good decade older than most of his hair-metal peers. Not as old as David Coverdale, but still, crusty for the times.
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