Those who worked on the frontline at one of Sydney’s busiest hospitals to help those injured in a shopping centre mass stabbing attack have revealed what happened after the trauma bells started to ring out.
Six people, five women and one man, were killed in the stabbing attack on Saturday afternoon at Westfield Bondi Junction. Another dozen people were injured — including a baby girl whose mother died in the attack.
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The killer, 40-year-old Queensland man Joel Cauchi, was shot dead by police at the scene. He was targeting women, NSW Premier Chris Minns said, in the country’s worst massacre in recent years.
Dozens of Sydneysiders were rushed to St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst following the attack, with nurses scrambling to help victims.
Anthony Chambers, a senior trauma surgeon at St Vincent’s Hospital said he was finishing a routine appendix surgery when the trauma alarms began to ring out.
“I knew something very serious had happened,” he told 7NEWS.
“Word was then given to us that we were expecting five critically injured patients with stab wounds from an incident in Bondi Junction.”
Chambers said as soon as he arrived at the emergency ward, he was required to help resuscitate multiple patients.
“I’ve been working at this hospital for 12 years and this is the largest number of critically injured patients we’ve received at one time,” he said.
“They had very complex injuries, and it is a credit to our hospital that we were able to surge our capacities so that we could deal with five critically injured patients at the same time.”
A senior social worker at St Vincent’s said her team was confronted with the task of communicating with families who attended the hospital desperately searching for answers on their loved ones.
“We didn’t know too many details at first, but we just knew multiple people had been impacted … it was pretty intense, and we were obviously very concerned for everyone that was there,” Scarlett Sevastopoulos told 7NEWS.
“We wanted to meet the families right away when they arrived, but not knowing if their family members were here or if they did have anyone who had been impacted, but their distress was our priority to be able to show them compassion.
“But also trying to get information … so names, photos of loved ones … and just giving them reassurance where we could.”
The doors of Westfield Bondi Junction re-opened to the public on Thursday for the first time since the stabbing attack.
A sombre-faced NSW Premier Chris Minns and Police Commissioner Karen Webb walked through the centre before addressing the media.
“It is not back to normal for Sydney, but this is an opportunity to get some kind of grieving and to turn the page on what has been a very difficult period,” Minns said.
The premier praised the community for coming together and described the day of reflection as “the first step in healing”.
“We are a community that can stand together in difficult periods and show that grief is universal when it is felt by one family, one individual,” he said.
Minns has indicated stricter knife laws would be considered following the stabbing.
Police Minister Yasmin Catley said the state government would also consider similar laws to those implemented in Queensland to allow officers to use metal detectors without a warrant during searches.
Scentre Group, which owns and operates the shopping centre, said shops would open for business on Friday with an increased police and security presence.
Normal trading hours will be maintained, although some stores will opt to remain shut.
Shopping centre tenants’ rent will be waived for the period it has been closed, with staff offered mental health support and counselling.
Black ribbons were displayed on digital screens at all Westfield locations on Thursday.
Security will be increased at all centres in response to the attack.
The attack claimed the life of 38-year-old osteopath Ashlee Good and Dawn Singleton, 25, the daughter of high-profile businessman John Singleton.
Architect Jade Young, 47, artist and designer Pikria Darchia, 55, 27-year-old Chinese student Yixuan Cheng and security guard Faraz Tahir, 30, a Pakistani refugee, were also killed.
– With AAP
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