International Medical Corps is expanding its relief efforts in Padang and Pariaman district in Indonesia, operating mobile and static clinics, including five posts for those displaced in camps by the September 30 earthquake.
International Medical Corps is working closely with its long-time partner, Ambulan 118, a national organization of emergency responders. We are providing emergency health care and distributing much needed non-food items and hygiene kits to those who have suffered injuries and also lost family as well as their homes.
The 7.6 quake killed an estimated 1,100 people, though thousands are still missing and that toll is expected to rise considerably as bodies are pulled from collapsed buildings. Some 102,000 homes have been destroyed; in Pariaman District, about 80 percent of buildings collapsed. Roads remain impassable in some areas, many health facilities were destroyed, and access to clean water remains difficult.
"There were landslides in the area that widened the destruction, so we are also focusing our outreach to areas that are as much as three hours away from Padang," said Yogi Mahendra, International Medical Corps senior logistics officer. "Also, because water systems have been damaged or destroyed we are very concerned about access to clean, safe water and sanitation."
International Medical Corps teams in Pariaman District are seeing about 150 patients a day, one third of them children. Most patients are suffering from psychosocial disorders as a result of the disaster. The primary diseases are skin disorders, myalgia and acute respiratory tract infection.
One patient named Lili who was one of only 26 people in her village to survive and is now living in a displacement camp, told an International Medical Corps health worker she is haunted by the ordeal. "I cannot bear to return to my village," she says. "I have trouble sleeping and eating."
In order to continue providing assistance to the victims, International Medical Corps is in need of donations, including cash and gift-in-kind, to assist in the effort.
International Medical Corps is also working with the Emergency Capacity Building Project, a coordinating group of humanitarian responders that also includes WorldVision, Care, Save the Children, and Mercy Corps.
Earthquakes, volcanoes and other seismic activity occur frequently in the region, commonly called the Ring of Fire; the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, to which International Medical Corps was one of the first organizations to respond, claimed nearly 230,000 lives.
Since 2005, International Medical Corps, alongside Ambulan 118, has conducted ongoing Disaster Management and Response training programs with disaster simulations for government departments mandated with disaster response in over 10 provinces in Indonesia. Along with local partners, International Medical Corps has raised the capacity of over 1,000 medical personnel and laymen (including police, firemen, search and rescue personnel and community leaders) in emergency medical response and disaster management. This training and simulation was also conducted in Padang, West Sumatra. Over 200 government officials participated in the earthquake simulation.
Since its inception 25 years ago, International Medical Corps' mission has been to relieve the suffering of those impacted by war, natural disaster and disease, by delivering vital health care services that focus on training. This approach of helping people help themselves is critical to returning devastated populations to self-reliance. For more information visit our website at www.imcworldwide.org.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Indonesian students read at a makeshift classroom near their classroom that was damaged by last week's earthquake in Padang, Indonesia's West Sumatra province October 12, 2009. Indonesia's port city Padang was ...
