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CDF officers out of hospital
THE nine Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers who suffered chemical burns while trying to retrieve the two bodies in yesterday's accident were discharged from hospital last night.
The officers, aged between 20 and 40, are from the SCDF's elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team.
Despite wearing protective gear, the men, who were submerged waist-deep in wet cement to conduct the search and extrication operation, sustained chemical burns on their limbs, said the SCDF.
'The injury was due to alkaline reaction arising from these rescuers inevitably coming into close contact with the chemical additives in the cement during the search and extrication operation,' it said.
The men were immediately given on-site medical attention by SCDF paramedics, which included rinsing their limbs with a saline solution, and then sent to the Singapore General Hospital.
The Straits Times understands that they sustained second-degree burns on their lower arms.
A second-degree burn extends into the dermis of the skin, which is the deeper layer of the skin tissue that supports and provides nutrition to the skin's outermost layer.
Recovery can range from two days to three weeks, with scarring lasting from three to six months, said Dr Lee Kwok Keong from Sanitas Medical Practice.
Chemical burns have to be treated more seriously as these can be erosive and take a longer time to show, he added.
