The use of the skin substitute “omiderm” in the Bashkyrian train catastrophe: a useful adjunct for mass burn casualties Report of 15 cases

Summary In June 1989, two trains exploded when passing over the trans-Ural natural gas pipeline. Eight hundred people were badly burned and between 1500–3000 people died. International assistance was requested by the Soviet government, and the Israel Army Medical Corps assistance delegation treated 40 burned patients who were transferred to the Sklifosovsky Trauma Center in Moscow. Fifteen of them suffered second degree burns with a BSA between 15% to 60%, and were treated with the skin substitute omiderm. Ten days after the application of the dressing, the wounds were epithelized and the patients discharged. The advantages of the omiderm as a skin substitute in second degree burns are described and its usefulness in mass burn casualties emphasized.