'We just did as much as we could'

The explosion aboard a bus happened just outside the headquarters of the British Medical Association.

A GP speaks about how a group of doctors turned the stately central London building into a mini-hospital.

Dr Holden co-ordinated activity

When the explosion happened aboard a double-decker bus, doctors were on hand in seconds.

The blast happened just outside BMA House in Tavistock Square, central London, where doctors were conducting their regular weekly meetings.

Among them was Dr Peter Holden, a family doctor from Matlock, Derbyshire, who has specialist training for emergency situations.

Under his command, 14 doctors set up a mini-hospital inside one of the stately rooms and outside in the courtyard to treat the casualties.

Training

Dr Holden is one of a small group of medics known as medical incident officers who are trained in how to handle major incidents, including co-ordinating emergency services.

He told BBC News: "We set up a casualty clearing station in one of the rooms to assess the victims and deal with the most serious.

"It is basically prioritising people, making sure the most serious are treated.

It was not a panic situation Dr Mary Church

"At first there was little we could do, apart from clearing people's airways, as we had no equipment.

"But ambulances services soon turned up and once they saw there was people there who knew what they were doing we were able to work alongside us.

He said the treatment that was given to casualties was "like the sort of thing you see on ER".

In all the doctors saw about two dozen casualties over the course of three hours.

Some were treated for minor injuries and smoke inhalation. But about nine people had more serious injuries, including burns and serious limb damage. One man had part of his leg missing.

The bus explosion happened right outside BMA House

Dr Sam Everington, deputy chairman of the BMA, said: "At first we had little to treat the casualties with except first aid kits.

"We started using table cloths, blankets and kitchen towels, anything we could get hold of, to stem the bleeding until the ambulance crews came and then it became a team effort."

Once the paramedics arrived, they worked with the doctors to administer drips and stem bleeding, while ambulances whisked the most seriously hurt away to hospital.

Dr Holden, chairman of the BMA's professional fees committee, added: "You have to ensure you have the four C's- command, control, co-ordination and communication - without these you get the fifth C - chaos.

"It was amazing what the doctors did, some of them would never have been involved with anything like this but it worked really well."

Other doctors involved with the emergency effort also praised the response.

GP Dr Mary Church said: "It was not a panic situation.

"We had the injured people lying down. My colleague is highly trained in emergency treatment and he had taken over and organised us into proper groups.

"We assessed each patient and administered what was necessary.

"There was a variety of injuries - limb injuries, head injuries and neck injuries - the sort of thing you would expect to see at a blast."

But despite the efforts of doctors it is thought two people died in the courtyard.

"We did all we could in a very hard situation," Dr Holden added. "I hope it made a difference."