SINGAPORE - A team of nurses and doctors from the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) that went to Bangladesh to help treat burn victims of a fatal fighter jet crash has returned home.

The eight-member team, comprising five nurses and three doctors, flew to Dhaka in stages, after an air force jet

crashed into a school compound

More than 30 people were killed, and another 170 or so were injured. About 80 victims were hospitalised for a raft of injuries, including serious burns. Many of the victims were children.

A call for help came from the Bangladesh High Commission office in Singapore, asking for medical reinforcements, said Associate Professor Ong Yee Siang, who is SGH head of plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery.

On July 22, a team led by SGH senior consultant Chong Si Jack headed to Dhaka, with nurses Jovan Lim and Poon Lai Kuan as well as SingHealth international collaboration office director Vijaya Rao.

On July 24, a second group left for the Bangladeshi capital, this one comprising doctors Jolin Wong and Irene Wong, and nurse clinicians Chester Chow, Wei Guiru and Tan Kwee Yuen.

Teaming up with medical staff in Dhaka, the Singapore team lent a hand with burn dressings, surgical excisions and skin graft operations, said Prof Ong.

The team also lent its expertise to Dhaka hospital staff on things like caring for critically ill patients, infection prevention and control protocols, he added. Doctors in Singapore also pitched in remotely, making themselves available for teleconsultations.

Singapore and Bangladesh have long-standing ties in sharing expertise on treating burn victims.

In 2016, public healthcare cluster SingHealth and the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka inked a deal that paved ...