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04/21/93
Parkland turns down offers of skin for burn victims
By Steve Scott / The Dallas Morning News
Dozens of people who wanted to donate their skin for transplants to three Branch Davidians recuperating from burns at Parkland Memorial Hospital were turned away, officials at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas said Tuesday.
The volunteers were denied because skin is taken only from cadavers, school officials said. Also, the medical school, which stores skin for transplants at Parkland and other hospitals, had enough skin to handle the three patients.
"There were a lot of calls,' said Ellen Heck, the medical school's director of transplant services. "Fortunately, right now we have an adequate supply.'
Also Tuesday, Parkland officials confirmed the identities of the three patients, who were taken by helicopter to Dallas after the sect's compound outside Waco burned to the ground Monday afternoon.
Clive Doyle, 52, was in good condition with second- and third-degree burns on both hands.
Misty Ferguson, 17, and Marjorie Thomas, 30, were in critical condition, with ventilators regulating their breathing.
Doctors were treating both women for second- and third-degree burns. The flames seared Ms. Thomas' buttocks, feet, neck and face, burning 50 percent of her body. Ms. Ferguson's right arm and face were burned, covering a quarter of her body.
The only other injured cult member, Ruth Riddle, was in stable condition Tuesday at Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco. Ms. Riddle, 29, suffered first- and second-degree burns on 5 percent of her body, on her arms and legs.
Parkland officials would not say what treatments were planned for the three patients there.
But UT Southwestern officials said doctors usually try to stabilize burn patients for a few days to prepare them for skin transplant surgery. The first skin transplants on Branch Davidian patients aren't expected until at least Wednesday, Ms. Heck said. Patients usually receive skin transplants only if their burns cover more than 35 percent of their body, she said.
People began calling UT Southwestern on Monday afternoon to offer their skin for transplants, Ms. Heck said.
"For a living individual to donate skin, they would have to be in the hospital in order to do it and would experience pain and discomfort,' Ms. Heck said. "For that reason, it's imperative that we get skin donations at the time of death.'
Officials said they still did not know where the three had lived before moving into David Koresh's compound.
Armed agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms continued standing guard over the three patients.
Staff writer Steve Kenny contributed to this report.
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