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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Jacob Farr

Americans amongst Edinburgh dock casualties as consulate supports those impacted

American nationals are amongst those injured on the research ship that tilted at the Imperial Leith Dock.

The US Consulate Edinburgh revealed that they are working to offer support to Americans who were caught up in the emergency incident.

They released a short statement that said that they were monitoring the situation and offering support to US nationals - they also thanked the emergency services for their response.

READ MORE: Several Leith dock Edinburgh casualties remain in hospital with serious injuries

On Twitter, they posted: “We are monitoring the situation at Imperial Dock in Edinburgh and offering support to U.S. citizens who were involved.

“We thank the emergency services for their prompt response. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this incident.”

It is not known how many of the 50 onboard are American. A statement from NHS Lothian has stated that 19 people were treated for injuries at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) and that a further four were taken to the Western General Hospital (WGH) following the emergency incident.

A further two had been treated at a hospital in Kirkcaldy. Eight of those at the RIE are still being treated with some suffering serious injuries.

Jacquie Campbell, chief officer of acute services, NHS Lothian, said: "Our staff are working tirelessly to ensure patients get the best care and our thoughts are with everyone affected by this incident.

“A&E at the RIE is the busiest in Scotland and 80 patients were already waiting for, or receiving, treatment in A&E prior to this incident. We worked quickly to create additional capacity across our hospitals, with support from partners and other sites.

“This included working with our health and social care partnerships (HSCPs) to discharge those who could leave hospital to maximise capacity across the system. Unfortunately, we did have to cancel outpatient appointments, endoscopies and planned surgeries at the RIE today to enable staff from other areas to support their A&E colleagues and to free-up our surgical staff for emergencies.

“There are no plans at this time to postpone appointments or elective procedures tomorrow, but assessments continue and patients will be contacted directly if the situation changes. I want to thank our staff, colleagues in the HSCPs and across the wider healthcare system for their considerable efforts to adapt quickly and respond to this incident, and their offers of support.

“There are now 47 patients in A&E and we’ve been able to keep this open to the public throughout our response to this incident. However, our staff remain very busy and we continue to urge people not to attend A&E unless it's an emergency.

“Please contact your GP or NHS 24 on 111 for advice if you think you need urgent care.”

The Research Vessel (RV) Petrel's primary mission is to explore historically-significant shipwrecks at "challenging depths and conditions". The ship is owned by the estate of Microsoft cofounder, the late Paul G. Allen, who died in 2018.

RV Petrel has had great success in this area in recent years, discovering the wrecks of an astonishing 30 sunken warships, including the USS Indianapolis, the ship that delivered the first atomic bomb components to Tinian Island base in 1945, and aircraft carrier the USS Hornet, which played a key role for the US after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Allen, who was ranked as the 44th-wealthiest person in the world by Forbes, with an estimated net worth of $20.3 billion (£16.6bn) at the time of his death, was known for his passion for military history and had made it his mission to fund a research vessel to uncover a fleet of shipwrecks from various different battle sites.

RV Petrel has been moored at Leith since September 3, 2020.

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