New Zealand orders 186,000 square inches of skin grafts from US for volcano victims

Joshua Bote | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption 'No signs of life' on White Island after New Zealand volcano eruption Rescue workers couldn't find any of at least eight people missing and feared dead after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand.

New Zealand has ordered 186,000 square inches of skin grafts from the United States to aid the burn victims from the eruption of a volcano on a popular tourist island.

Twenty-eight victims of the White Island volcano eruption Monday were in intensive care in burns units throughout New Zealand – 23 of whom were in critical condition and require airway support.

"We currently have stock but are urgently sourcing additional supplies to meet the demand for dressing and temporary skin grafts," Dr. Pete Watson, chief medical officer at Counties Makanau Health of New Zealand, said in a news conference Wednesday.

A majority of the burns, said Dr. John Kenealy, clinical director of surgery at Counties Makanau, were severe. Some patients' burns covered 90% to 95% of their bodies.

Two people died overnight, and one Australian patient will be taken back to the country "to enable treatment closer to home." More Australians will follow, Watson said.

New Zealand volcano eruption: At least 6 killed on popular tourist attraction island

Is the cruise line liable? Royal Caribbean passengers hurt in New Zealand volcano eruption

The severity of the burns and other injuries, Watson said, is complicated by the gases and chemicals of the scalding steam from the eruption.

"This has necessitated more rapid surgical treatment of these burns than is the usual case for thermal-only burns," Watson said, noting that treatment for some patients may take months. Doctors, he said, are working round-the-clock.

Forty-seven people were on the island at the time of the eruption, some of whom were walking along the rim of the crater. Eight deaths have been confirmed, and eight are missing and presumed dead, New Zealand authorities said.

More steam and mud erupted from the volcano Wednesday, further delaying searches for the missing.

Twenty-four of the confirmed visitors on the island were Australian, nine were American, five were New Zealanders and the others were from Germany, Britain, China and Malaysia. Many were passengers on the Ovation of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.

The first confirmed death was a New Zealander, Hayden Marshall-Inman, who worked as a guide for tourists around the island.

"This number of burns is unprecedented in New Zealand," Kenealy said, "and in the rest of the world."

Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Joshua Bote on Twitter: @joshua_bote