CONSTRUCTION UNDER WAY FOR CLINICS IN PADANG AND PARIAMAN

The 7.6-magnitude earthquake that rocked West Sumatra on 30 Sep not only reduced thousands of homes to rubble, but also damaged primary healthcare facilities such as clinics.

To cater to the healthcare needs of the locals, a 30-man engineering team from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and personnel from the Indonesian Defence Forces (TNI) have commenced construction of two Modular Deployment Kits (MDKs), one in Padang and the other in Pariaman. These will be used as clinics to replace those that have been damaged due to the earthquake.

The MDKs, which can last up to five years, are made of iron and aluminium, and measure 12m in length, 6m in width and 3.1m in height.

The SAF team has completed the ground preparations and built support structures for the clinics. Over the next three days, the SAF team and TNI personnel will be installing the wall panels, roofs, electrical works and interior furnishing of the clinics at the two sites. The clinics are expected to be completed and handed over to the Indonesian authorities within the week.

Speaking to cyberpioneer on the considerations the engineers had before constructing the MDKs, Captain (CPT) Lim Ziyang, Platoon Commander of the Engineer Team, said: "We first had to select a location for the modular kits that will minimise the inconveniences to the local residents, while also making sure that the MDKs were located in places readily accessible to the public."

"Ideally, the MDKs need to be sited on concrete ground to reduce the time for ground preparation," he added.

For the local residents, the MDKs mean good news to them.

Dr Bambang, a local doctor, who has been working closely with the SAF doctors at the mobile clinic set up by the SAF in Koto Bangko, Pariaman, said: "People in our area are very happy that the SAF engineers are building a Puskesmas (clinic) for us, because our Puskesmas was very badly damaged after the earthquake. So our population is very enthusiastic about the new Puskesmas."

"We are also very thankful to our friends from the SAF, who have set up the mobile clinic since about a week ago. They have helped many of our people who are sick," he said.

Over at the mobile clinic, which has treated 644 patients since operations commenced on 7 Oct, the medical situation has started to stabilise.

Similarly at Pariaman Public Hospital, where the SAF is manning an Accident and Emergency (A&E) clinic and an operating theatre, the SAF medical team is starting to see a gradual decrease in earthquake-related patients.

Head of the SAF medical team Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) (Dr) Mohamad Rosman Bin Othman, said: "The number of A&E cases we've been seeing has been declining since last Friday, and we're now seeing mainly non-earthquake related injuries, such as road traffic accidents, patients with breathlessness, or heart problems."

In total, the medical team has attended to 358 A&E patients and performed 99 surgeries since it began operations at Pariaman Public Hospital on 3 Oct.

For related content, visit the SAF's Humanitarian Assistance for Sumatra Earthquake website, cyberpioneer Flickr gallery and cyberpioneerTV YouTube channel.