Ernie Corlett

Ernie’s experiences of the fire at Summerland were predominantly in a professional capacity in his role within the Pathology Department of Noble's Hospital.

Working in the Pathology Department, Ernie was on leave around the time of 2 August 1973 and was called into work at very short notice – as were all of his colleagues – to help deal with the emergency situation as it unfolded. He describes both the urgency and the sheer scale of the operation from the perspective of the Island’s health and care services, as it tried to cope with a series of events which were completely unprecedented in a number of ways.

From utilising extra buildings to pulling in stocks of blood plasma from health centres off the Isle of Man, Ernie’s recollections give some insight into how the Island’s healthcare system coped, with very limited resources and capacity.

This interview was conducted as a part of the Summerland Remembered project commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the Summerland Fire on 2^nd August 1973.

Interviews

When you click play on one of the interviews below there will be a slight delay as the audio file is downloaded. Large files or slow internet connections will increase the length of this delay.

• Ernie Corlett interviewed by Dollin Mercer (29 September 2022)