10 February 2005

by Ian Woolverton in Banda Aceh

PLEASE NOTE: This is not an official Red Cross report from the field, it is not an assessment of the situation in affected countries, and does not aim to depict the full situation, the conditions or the ground and the full extent of the needs of people affected. The intention of this story is to give readers a broad view of only some of the areas and some of the issues the survivors of the tsunamis face, or to portray only some of the activities carried out by the Red Cross in support of the affected population.

Khamisah, 35, sits on the steps of Banda Aceh's Lhong Raya football stadium, a blank expression on her face, eyes fixed on some invisible object in the distance. Her parents-in-law are dead, lost to the tsunami. By her side, her young daughter plays with an open packet of biscuits wrapped in shiny red plastic. A short walk from here at the Red Cross hospital, Khamisah's husband, Yusfarida, lies on a stretcher. His jaw locked, a drip in his hand, he is gravely ill with tetanus. ‘I am very worried for my husband. He is getting worse and worse,’ said Khamisah. ‘But I will not leave his side.’ Yusfarida, 45, is from Teunom. When the tsunami came, the massive waves washed him away, taking his house as well as his health. A wound, sustained during the tsunami, became infected. Untreated, tetanus causes convulsions and shaking, difficulties breathing and in the worst cases, death.

Khamisah sits on the steps of Banda Aceh's football stadium with her young daughter. Her husband is receiving treatment for tetanus at the nearby Red Cross field hospital. ARC/I Woolverton.

But Yusfarida is fortunate. In early January Doctors and nurses from the Red Cross set up a basic health care clinic in Teunom. Yusfarida made his way to the centre. For five days he received treatment for his wound as well as for tetanus.

But the clinic in Teunom, which sees some 200 patients a day, is only equipped to deal with basic health issues and emergencies such as minor operations.

So the Red Cross arranged for a medical evacuation from Teunom to a field hospital in Banda Aceh, run under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The next morning, a Red Cross helicopter flew Yusfarida, his wife and daughter, as well as another patient with a less serious case of tetanus, to the hospital in Banda Aceh to receive specialist treatment from doctors and nurses. The 100-bed field hospital, housed in dozens of tents, is located some 15 minutes from the airport, on the outskirts of town in the shadow of the football stadium. It includes an X-ray room, two operating theatres, a sterilisation area and an intensive care unit, as well as a centre for waterborne diseases, a blood bank and laboratory.

Yusfarida, who is gravely ill with tetanus, has been rushed from Teunom to the Red Cross-run field hospital in Banda Aceh. ARC/I Woolverton.

Staffing this impressive and well-equipped facility, are 32 Red Cross doctors, nurses and engineers. One of them is anaesthesiologist, Kare Lovsiakken.

‘We opened the facility mid-January,’ says Kare, a burly man wearing dark sunglasses, stethoscope wrapped round his neck.

Whisked from the Red Cross helicopter on a stretcher to the intensive care unit to receive oxygen, antibiotics, tetanus injections as well as antiserum, Yusfarida will be monitored round the clock. Despite the high standard of care Yusfarida receives here, the Red Cross is very worried for him. ‘It is a very serious case of tetanus. It is too early to know if he will make a full recovery,’ Kare cautions. The next few days are critical. If Yusfarida's condition improves, he can expect to stay at the hospital for some weeks. However one thing is certain. The Red Cross medical evacuation saved his life.

Red Cross staff, including anaesthesiologist Kare Lovsiakken (left), treat tsunami survivors in the field hospital. ARC/I Woolverton.

The team of Red Cross doctors and nurses will be in Banda Aceh for three months. But they are prepared to stay as long as they are needed. ‘We could stay for up to one year. It just depends,’ says Kare, shrugging his shoulders.

Meanwhile, Khamisah and her young daughter have no one to stay with in Banda Aceh. She has relatives here but she does not know where to find them. Or whether they are still alive.

‘Don't worry,’ says a Red Cross doctor with a reassuring smile. ‘We will take care of the whole family.’