Diary of a Tsunami Doctor |
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January 31st, 2005 - 07:18AM |
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Photo: The IRC Hilarie Cranmer, M.D., is a physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine in Boston. On only a day’s notice, Dr. Cranmer departed for Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on January 7 to join the IRC’s tsunami relief teams there. Cranmer has been sharing highlights of her travels and observations in an e-mail diary. Greetings again, feeling lucky to have these days to email frequently... Another business day. Had a bunch of meetings to fill out reports and meet with the medical director of the entire region where we are working. We’ve been hearing about an area that may have medical, water and sanitation needs for the remaining population, but access to the area has been limited. So the team leader will likely head out to the region again to complete the assessment and try to figure out how much health and water we will need to provide. One thing he may be able to do is get a crane out to the area to try to move some of the boats back to the sea, now about 2 km away from where they were deposited by the tsunami. It’s an effort to get people back to their main livelihood of fishing. Half our team left today, Brian, the nurse, and Julietta, the doctor/medical coordinator, back to Banda Aceh to catch flights to Jakarta. Brian may be able to negotiate to stay longer but in the meanwhile has to fly back to Singapore to get another visa to stay here for 30 more days. All the staff have to go through this process at the moment. Our team is smaller, and we’re also winding down, trying to get the last bits of measles campaigns started/finished. We’ve also rented a house that will serve as an office and a living place for the next teams here. One of the nurses we’ve been working with at the clinic, Mustafa, came by the hotel to say goodbye to the team that was leaving. He had just returned from Banda Aceh himself, with the sad news that no one is left from his extended family. He and his wife and child will now move permanently to Seunuddon. And he was sure to let me know he’ll be ready for work tomorrow, amazingly. Mustafa has been a treasure at the clinic, and has been really trying to learn a great deal. He has been so supportive of us, and helping as much as he can, along with his wife, who is a midwife. I know he is sad to see this team leave, but he will be a great asset to the next wave coming. How he finds the strength to do so is just unfathomable. He doesn’t cry, not any of our staff have, at least not in front of us. Their local support has been distant relatives and the IRC staff they have worked with for the last few years. Hopefully more later, Hilarie Posted By: Dr. Hilarie Cranmer | Asia, Diaries & Journals, Health, Tsunami Relief Permalink |
