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Patients from the cave party in Oslo last weekend are still in Ullevål hospital and are being treated for brain damage after carbon monoxide poisoning.
– They have brain injuries, and we treat them with the intention of making them the best they can be, but we cannot guarantee that they will be completely healthy again, says Dag Jacobsen, head of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Oslo University Hospital, to VG.
NRK covered the case first.
Jacobsen won’t say how many are still hospitalized, but he can confirm that there are more patients and that they are receiving both regular and intensive treatment.
– We don’t know exactly how it will go. It’s very serious if you suffer a brain injury as a teenager or in your early twenties, he says.
Read also: Inside the cave
Police believe that up to 200 people may have been at the party. Jacobsen believes that one came close to a national catastrophe and that in hindsight it is almost a miracle that no lives were lost.
– Those who were there were probably only a few minutes away from the worst disaster in Norway in peacetime, Jacobsen tells VG.
– It was luck and the resourceful party participants who made sure this didn’t get worse. They have done a fantastic job rescuing cameras. If they had not been saved, this would have gone very wrong, says the head of the department.
At the request of relatives
– The families are having a very bad time and do not want this to happen to anyone else. So now we go out and say that it did not turn out as well as it was presented, says the head of the department.
After the cave party, all patients admitted to the hospital were described as “out of danger to life,” thanks to the efforts of party participants and health personnel, Jacobsen says.
– As a result of this, some have formed the impression that, after all, this was not so dangerous and that therefore other similar parties can be planned.
He says that it is the relatives who have encouraged the hospital to leave with information on the state of those who are still hospitalized.
They want it so that other parents of teenagers don’t experience what they are going through now.
– We think this is a strong message from fantastic family members.
Heavy, also for healthcare professionals
Jacobsen says that when the alarm sounded early Sunday morning, doctors, nurses and health personnel rushed to the hospital to help, even those who were not on duty.
– This incident has been moving for all of us who have participated in the treatment. The patients are young and there are many who arrive at the same time.
– Fortunately, most of the people admitted to the hospital urgently are healthy adults. So it’s impressive when they’re so young and healthy, and it’s the brain that goes the extra mile, she says.
May cause late injuries
It is carbon monoxide poisoning that has caused the injuries in young people who are now receiving treatment at the Oslo University Hospital.
– Kullos is one of the worst poisons we know of. It takes the place of oxygen in hemoglobin and stifles the body’s absorption of oxygen, says the head of the department.
It says that it affects the most important organs of the body, namely the heart and brain.
– Apart from oxygen, we also have no antidote to carbon monoxide.
He explains that in addition to the acute damage to the brain and heart, up to 1/3 of patients admitted with said poisoning may develop so-called “late neurological lesions” that manifest as headaches, difficulty concentrating, decreased memory, parkinsonism and more. There is currently no established treatment here, but some cases may return on their own.
Read also: Cave Party Manager (24) for VG: – Out of Control
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Here they have fun in the cave
Jacobsen encourages young people and their parents to discuss the importance of such parties and to refrain from them.
– The Corona pandemic with its demands to keep distance, reinforces it. This invitation also applies to those who are currently considering renting party rooms that are not intended for such use.
