Saving lives and limbs in Padang, Indonesia

Original link: www.alertnet.org

13 Oct 2009 16:56:38 GMT
Source: Merlin - UK
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.

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.