According to Altnagelvin Area Hospital there was an abnormally large number of admissions during the period 12-17 July. Seventy seven of the 572 admissions claimed to have injuries arising out of civil disturbances. However, there was an unusually high number of people with circular injuries purporting to have fallen off bikes, scaffolding etc
Thirty two people were treated at Letterkenny Hospital in County Donegal during the three days.
People were dissuaded from seeking treatment at the Accident and Emergency department in Altnagelvin after the RUC's use of violence there on Thursday night. The residents at the first aid houses spontaneously set up in the Rossville Street area over the three nights of rioting have all stated that they were expressly urged by some members of the ambulance crew not to seek treatment at Altnagelvin. One woman states that she was told by one of the crew,
"Whatever you do, don't let them go near casualty if they're not seriously hurt".
Reports from the first aid houses reveal that the type of injuries treated on the Thursday night were mainly in the leg, back and rib areas. It should be borne in mind that those injured in the Shipquay St incident did not pass through the houses where first aid was offered in the Bogside area. The number of head injuries treated in the `first-aid' house nearest the William Street and Rossville Street area increased dramatically on the Friday night. There were two people treated for head injuries on Thursday night, while Friday's numbers showed that there were 15 head injuries. This figure rose sharply again on the Saturday night, with a further increase of 25 head injuries.
"Saturday night was a nightmare for head injuries",states the resident of one of the `first-aid' houses,
Of those that stick out in her mind was a man who had been hit in the face:
"It was mostly head and neck injuries. There weren't as many people injured on the Saturday night, as the previous two nights, but any who were hurt were far more serious".
"his top lip was hanging off, he'd a broken jaw and broken teeth. I'll never forget him. I took him into the bedroom and I'll never forget the look on his face when he caught a look at himself in the mirror. I still wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it. It was a nightmare, the whole thing".Throughout the weekend, injuries included fractured skulls, broken jaws, broken arms and legs, a partially-severed ear, broken noses, broken teeth and palates, shattered kneecaps and elbows and an injury where a victim's tongue had to be sewn together. All these injuries were the result of plastic bullets.
Of the first aid houses visited there were 239 people treated for injuries.
A total of 16 people passed through the health centre in Great James' Street on the Thursday and Friday nights.
It is impossible to know the true extent of injuries inflicted by plastic
bullets in Derry in the aftermath of the Drumcree stand-off. The figure of 332
is a conservative estimate based on hospital figures, interviews with those who
helped in first aid houses and interviews with witnesses. According to witness
statements many received no treatment at all.
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