Doctors and nurses at the Fort McMurray hospital are sharing their stories about transporting more than 120 patients to safety amid a raging wildfire last week.
Hospital staff spoke to the Canadian Medical Association Journal about the extreme challenges they faced.
"We could see right across Highway 63 where the flames were jumping from treetop to treetop," Dr. Jonathan Bowman, an emergency physician at the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre told CMAJ.
"It was moving quickly. The smoke was pretty thick in the air. You could just hear this roar of fire. It was a surreal experience. You think: 'This can't be happening.'"
Bowman and two other emergency room doctors were working at the hospital when mass evacuation orders started being given throughout the city.
Physicians and nursing staff were able to bring their patients to safety in the nearby town of Anzac despite being told to wait for an evacuation order that never came.
Those evacuated included elderly patients, new mothers with their babies, and psychiatric patients. They were safely transported to an empty space that the medical team had to outfit as an emergency field hospital to care for patients.
