In Indonesia, a multinational aid effort coalesces By Jane Perlez The New York Times Wednesday, January 5, 2005
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia Helicopters from the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln flew down the Indonesian coast Tuesday, delivering water, medical supplies and food. . More than a dozen medical personnel were dropped off in sorties on Monday and patients suffering from wounds that had festered for more than a week were ferried to safety, American military officials said. . One American doctor said a boy who was brought in was throwing up sand, which showed that he had been submerged for an extended period. . Doctors also said the tsunami had destroyed sewage and sanitation pipes, creating a noxious cocktail that caused infections in open wounds. "We are seeing a lot of broken legs, a lot of lacerations, a lot of pneumonia from all the saltwater - about three-quarters of the patients have pneumonia, among other things," said Lieutenant Lisa Peterson, a doctor from the aircraft carrier. . The flow of emergency supplies suffered a setback Tuesday when an accident involving a Boeing 737 cargo plane and a water buffalo blocked the runway, news agencies reported. . Lifting equipment was brought from Singapore to remove the jet, which damaged its landing gear trying to avoid the stray beast and the runway reopened later in the day. The incident did not affect helicopter operations. . In an appeal over the weekend for international assistance, the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said he welcomed help for survivors and for reconstruction as a show of "global unity." In some respects on Monday, he seemed to have achieved his goal. . While the Americans provided much of the hardware at the airport here, where a medical operation has been centered, they did not dominate the proceedings that seemed to have been choreographed - but were probably more ad hoc - into a mosaic of international good will. . Transport planes from Singapore sat between flights on the tarmac here after dropping off supplies from the United Nations World Food Program. . Chinook helicopters from Singapore also flew along the coast. . The airport here, virtually idle two days ago, was a whirl of activity from early morning until sundown on Monday with the wounded being ferried from the American helicopters across the tarmac into a triage tent for examination, and then onto a truck to one of the two overcrowded hospitals in this battered city. . The operation involved American pilots and medics, an Australian coordinator, a team of doctors from China, and Indonesian soldiers working side by side. . At times, international language - the thumbs up - sufficed for words as two Indonesians, an American and an Australian held the four corners of a stretcher with an injured boy and lifted it carefully from one of the helicopters. . A group of Chinese doctors in a nearby tent flying a flag with the insignia of the Medical Detachment of China International Search and Rescue Team knelt over an elderly man who lay on a stretcher on the grass as they examined his scrawny torso slashed with lacerations. . He had been taken from his hut in Calang, one of the hardest-hit towns, just an hour earlier by Petty Officer Michael Ousley, an emergency medical technician on a Seahawk helicopter. "I don't think he had had anything to eat for seven days," said Ousley as he rushed off to make another run down the coast. . Naturally, not everything went smoothly in the shoulder-to-shoulder effort. . A team of 40 emergency medical specialists from Spain's Agency for International Cooperation, who arrived early in the morning ready to start work within two hours were still without an essential component on Monday night. . "There is a shortage of pure oxygen that we need for resuscitation," said Dr. Pablo Yuste, the leader of the team, as he tried to organize at the airport. . Nevertheless, he was confident that the Spanish field hospital would start operations on Tuesday in the grounds of the main Banda Aceh hospital, which was swamped by the tsunami and then filled with fetid black mud. The hospital building was still too dirty for use and a temporary replacement would be set up under tents, he said. But he was not sure, despite the urgent needs, that organizers of the medical operation knew about the Spanish effort. "We will send you some patients tomorrow," Wing Commander Bill Griggs of the Australian Air Force promised Yuste. . The commander was confident that more victims would be brought from the faraway villages by the helicopters. But among the Americans there was some question about whether it was really effective to bring wounded patients to the overcrowded hospitals here. "The two hospitals in town can't cope," said Lieutenant Dave Edgarton. . At the Sakinah hospital, a team of Australian and Indonesian doctors have replaced the local staff, who fled after the disaster. . The people arriving Monday from isolated areas had especially gruesome injuries, the doctors said. Because eight days had passed since they were first injured, the wounds had become grossly infected. . Amputations were becoming increasingly necessary, and many victims were very sick from septicemia. Even many of the city dwellers who had not already received medical attention were in increasing difficulties. . "We had a woman today with just an inch-long wound on her thigh, but it was such a horrible infection we had to cut from her thigh to her ankle," said Dr. David Scott, an anesthetist from Australia. In another case, a young man had an infection in his foot that had spread to above the knee. . "He needed an above-the-knee amputation, but he bled too much and died," Scott said. . As time passes, the likelihood of saving sick patients still stranded in remote areas was fading, said another Australian doctor, Alan Garner. Even some of those who arrive Tuesday would have a tough time surviving, he said. . "A 20-year-old guy brought in today said he was the sole survivor of his village," he said. . "He was washed out to sea, walked for two days and was picked up by the American helicopter. But I suspect he's going to die, and he will be the last of his village." . [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.uni.cc *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Forum IT PPI-India: http://www.ppiindia.shyper.com/itforum/ 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
