In Maui, the Need for Medical Resources Continues

Though the toll of the wildfires in Maui remains to be completely seen, the need for medical and recovery resources continues.

As of Thursday, the fires had claimed the lives of at least 111 people, with up to 1,000 still missing.

Given the devastation, federal resources were needed to support recovery efforts. HHS said this week that the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) deployed 25 additional experts from the National Disaster Medical System's Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT), as well as a Victim Identification Center Team to augment state and local mortuary resources.

DMORTs include medical examiners, coroners, funeral directors and mortuary officers, forensic specialists, autopsy assistants, fingerprint specialists, logistics specialists, and security and safety specialists, HHS said.

The deployment closely followed another by ASPR -- a Disaster Portable Morgue Unit consisting of 22.5 tons of supplies and equipment needed for victim identification and the processing of human remains, HHS added. Specific provisions include mortuary examination tables, x-ray units, and laboratory equipment.

For Survivors, Treating Severe Burns

Some of the most severely wounded survivors of the Maui fires were transported to Straub Medical Center in Honolulu, "whose burn unit is the only facility of its kind in Hawaii, and the only one in the North Pacific between California and Asia," the New York Times reported.

Patients -- ranging in age from young adults to the elderly -- have second- and third-degree burns that, in some cases, cover up to 70% of their bodies, the Times noted.

"As a surgeon, you have to just take it one step at a time and take care of the patient in front of you," David Cho, MD, a plastic surgeon who works in the burn unit at Straub Medical Center, told the outlet.

Overall, medical providers at the burn unit told the Times they had found deep meaning in being able to help their state through the devastation of the fires. But as the death toll in Maui mounted, they lamented that they had not had the chance to save more people.

"It's heartbreaking," Cho said. "I wish there were more transfers coming in -- that's my real reflection."

Drawing Attention to Medical Needs

Professional surfer and Maui local Kai Lenny has spoken publicly about the need for critical medications and supplies, including insulin and baby bottles and diapers.

Like Lenny, emergency medicine physician Reza Danesh, MD, noted that, because pharmacies had burned down, many evacuees were running low on essential medications like insulin, according to NBC News.

Recounting what he's experienced taking his mobile medical clinic to Lahaina, which has been devastated by the flames, Danesh said he's mostly tended to those who he described as the "wounded well," including those with asthma or other chronic conditions that can be exacerbated by smoke, and others who are experiencing stress from watching their homes burn.

"My goal is just to keep people out of the hospital," he told NBC. "They got amazing people there, but it's limited resources."

Focusing on Mental Health

Indeed, the stress of the Maui fires is something that's top of mind for mental health professionals.

One of the experts on the ground in Maui is Dana Lucio, a licensed mental health counselor with the Oahu-based group Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii, AP reported.

Lucio told AP she hopes those affected will think about mental health treatment as something that is long term. "This is not something their brains were prepared to understand," she said. "There is going to be a need for ongoing therapy."

In the near-term, distribution of medications to those who fled the flames without their antidepressants and antipsychotic prescriptions are needed, experts told AP.

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