Dr. Olivier Vermylen of the Brugmann University Hospital was director of medical rescue services at Maelbeek metro station on 22 March 2016, when bomb blasts shook the Belgian capital.
He had no trouble recalling what he saw that day when he testified on Friday at the Brussels Court of Assises on the coordination of rescue services and his intervention at the site.
Dr. Vermylen recounted to the court the types of injuries suffered by the many victims, starting with head wounds, abdominal injuries and severe burns. He explained that when he arrived on the scene there was “information chaos.” His task was also complicated by the existence of two forward medical posts.
“We are used to working with only one advance medical post,” he explained. “We decided to close the one at the bottom, to send all the seriously injured people who were there to hospitals, and to keep the advance post set up at the Thon hotel” on Rue de la Loi.
All the less critical emergency patients from the advance medical post were sent there, he explained.
The injured were sorted according to the severity of their injuries. A total of 154 victims were treated: 35 “U1” – the most critical -, 33 “U2” and 86 “U3.” According to the doctor, some suffered from severe cranial trauma due to projectiles.
Others suffered severe chest wounds, sometimes with evisceration and abdominal trauma.
Other injuries included trauma to the limbs (fractures, wounds, etc.), second- and third-degree burns and tympanic lesions, along with psychological disorders and post-traumatic stress.
