Last fall, two powerful gas-related explosions severely burned and injured nine members of two families, all of whom ended up at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

"I've been here 24 years and I can tell you we don't very often get multiple victims like this," says Jackie Heinle, R.N., nurse manager of the Burn Treatment Center.

The first tragedy severely burned a family of four from Davenport, Iowa, including two children ages 12 and 7. Complicating their case was the fact that only the children spoke English and that neither parent was in any kind of shape to calm the children.

Meanwhile, a house explosion devastated a family from Wonder Lake, Illinois, killing their 2-month-old son and severely burning the parents and the boy's three siblings, ages 10, 8, and 2.

Both families arrived at UI Hospitals and Clinics within 72 hours of each other.

Staff members rose to the occasion in extraordinary ways immediately after it became known these two complex emergencies would tax the stamina and the resources of everyone associated with the Burn Treatment Center. The offers of personal and professional support poured in-some staff brought food and organized potlucks to feed the survivors' family members and make sure burn center staff had the energy they needed to keep going. Spanish-speaking nurses from other parts of the hospital offered their language skills and voluntarily worked extra shifts, helping the hospital's language interpreters bridge the communications gap with the family from Davenport.

The Center for Disabilities and Development provided much-needed on-site rehabilitation support for the children as they healed.

"There were so many people from so many areas of the hospital who stepped up, we don't have any idea who some of them were," Heinle says.

Heinle says the entire experience gave a different meaning to family-centered care. "The whole institution, and many people outside it, were family to the burn center at that time," she says.

Thankfully, all nine family members survived and have begun the long and difficult struggle to regain their lives.

"That's the real reward for all of us," Heinle says.