Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

FROM THE FIELD

Saving lives and limbs in Padang, Indonesia
13 Oct 2009 16:56:38 GMT
 Source: Merlin - UK
218926 logo

Background

•  Sumatra quake Sept 2009

•  Indonesia earthquakes

•  Children

•  Earthquakes

•  Java earthquake 2006

MORE >>
Merlin’s surgical team has been saving lives and limbs in Padang City in Indonesia, with the only surgeon providing complex reconstructive surgery for survivors of the recent earthquake.

“Many of the patients the team has treated could have lost their limbs or even their lives, as their wounds had become so badly infected,” said Merlin’s Emergency Response Team Manager Paula Sansom.

In collaboration with the medical staff at the Army Hospital in Padang, Merlin’s Emergency Response Team, which includes a plastic surgeon, two scrub nurses and an anaesthesiologist, has carried out a total of 16 complex reconstructive surgeries.

Among the patients, a 10-year-old girl suffered a bone fracture with extensive tissue damage when heavy masonry fell on her during the quake. Initially facing a tragic amputation procedure, the work done by Merlin’s surgical team has ensured she’ll be able to walk again.

“When you have heavy crush injuries there is a great deal of damage to bones, but also to soft tissue. That’s why plastic surgeons are essential in these sorts of disasters,” said Dr. Waseem Saeed, who specialises in reconstruction for limb paralysis, microsurgery and children’s hand surgery.

Nearly two weeks after the dual quakes struck, Indonesian officials and aid agencies on the ground are still struggling to deal with the scale of the disaster and destruction. Merlin staff traveled to Agam district, which was cut off and inaccessible for days immediately following the quakes. “We found four remote villages, where the health centres had been completely destroyed by the earthquake and subsequent landslides,” Sansom reported.

Merlin now plans to rebuild, refurbish and re-equip three of these health centres, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, provide training where gaps in knowledge and practices have been identified.

 Support our work. Please donate now

 Click here to donate to the DEC Disasters Appeal




[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Email this article       Send comments

Topics

•  Children

•  Earthquakes

MORE >>

Emergencies

•  Java earthquake 2006

•  Indonesia earthquakes

•  Sumatra quake Sept 2009

MORE >>

Members

•  Merlin - UK

MORE >>

NGO latest

•  Saving lives and limbs in Padang, Indonesia
Merlin - UK

•  Disasters Appeal hits £3m in one week but more urgently needed
CARE International - UK

•  Sumatra post-quake: “I don’t think I’ll ever forget that day”
Oxfam GB - UK

•  ACT Preliminary Appeal: West Sumatra Earthquake, Indonesia
ACT - Switzerland

•  Child Protection and education in the aftermath of Andhra Pradesh floods
Save the Children - India

MORE >>

Latest news

•  UGANDA: IDPs call for basic services

•  Iran: Another Execution of Juvenile Offender

•  SOMALIA: Livestock lifeline for Puntland IDPs

•  PAKISTAN: Polio outbreak in Swat

•  Nearly 1,000 Chinese kids poisoned by metal plants

MORE >>

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Background information

Briefings
Java earthquake 2006 - [Who works where]
Indonesia earthquakes - [Who works where]
Sumatra quake Sept 2009 - [Who works where]

Topics
Children Earthquakes
Facts & figures
Indonesia
Statistics graphs
TB cases (2007)
Chart for TB cases
View more stats >>

Related articles

Breaking stories
 UGANDA: IDPs call for basic services (1 minute ago)

Iran: Another Execution of Juvenile Offender (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
 Leaders "can't afford" failed deal at Copenhagen (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
 Saving lives and limbs in Padang, Indonesia (1 minute ago)

Blogs
 The real lives behind sketchy West Sumatra quake numbers (1 minute ago)

Maps
 Atlas of Tsunami Damages on Saval´i & Upolu Islands, Samoa (1 minute ago)


Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-10-13T110533Z_01_JAK07_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE-INDONESIA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/JAK07.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-10-13T102506Z_01_JAK06_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE-INDONESIA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/JAK06.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-10-13T093735Z_01_MAN401_RTRIDSP_2_PHILIPPINES-FLOODS_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/MAN401.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-10-12T204248Z_01_HND103_RTRIDSP_2_HONDURAS_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/HND103.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-10-12T195700Z_01_GTM04_RTRIDSP_2_GUATEMALA-MINE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/GTM04.htm

Muslims hold a mass prayer for earthquake victims on a street in Cirebon, Indonesia's Central Java province October 13, 2009, after a powerful earthquake struck West Sumatra province last month. REUTERS/Widodo ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Tue Oct 13 16:14:13 2009