Mrs Bartlett knew there were contamination risks but didn't hesitate to help the two burned men, whose injuries she and and other neighbours described as "horrific".
"You have to do what you can," she said yesterday.
"We weren't decontaminated and both Bruce and I have had sore throats and felt tired and short of breath.
"People said we should be checked by a doctor, but we came right after three or four days."
Two other neighbours who helped with the burned men had similar symptoms later.
One of them, who asked not to be named, said he had quite severe chest congestion, lethargy, headaches and was wheezing at night.
He didn't go to a doctor because he had not long given up smoking tobacco and was unsure what was causing his condition.
Like the Bartletts, he had "come right" a few days after the blast.
Northland medical officer of health Dr Clair Mills yesterday said anyone who felt they had been exposed to chemicals used to make methamphetamine should seek medical advice. St Johns Northland district manager Tony Devaney said ambulance staff at Pakotai had followed St Johns' procedures to ensure the two burned men were decontaminated before treatment.
It is understood no specific decontamination of ambulance crews and firefighters was carried out at Pakotai because they were not considered to have been in contact with P-lab chemicals.
While no charges have yet been laid, police say the blast came from an accident in a clandestine laboratory making methamphetamine [P] in the shed.
Police detected six P labs in Northland last year.
Chemicals used in the labs include acetone, lead acetate, iodine, yellow and white phosphorous, methylamine, sulphuric and hydrochloric acid and toluene, an organic solvent sometimes containing benzene.
Symptoms of human contamination by P-lab chemicals include skin rashes, sore eyes and breathing difficulties.
