Bringing Hope to Banda Aceh – Sergeant Shane Foster
The water may be gone, the fury of the Boxing Day tsunami is plain to see and it’s an every day sight for Hawke’s Bay man Sergeant Shane Foster.
Living and working at what’s left of the Banda Aceh Public Hospital, the Army medic is surrounded by the victims of Mother Nature.
Banda Aceh was hit hardest; the coastal region in northern Indonesia was first rocked by an earthquake then ravaged by the tsunami.
At the Public Hospital the water gushed through two stories, taking with it beds, medicine, equipment and people. It’s estimated half of the nine hundred staff who worked there are dead.
For Shane, the first task after arriving in Banda Aceh as part of the New Zealand Defence Force medical team was to restore the hospital to working order.
“Getting personnel and equipment here was a major task, but not as big as the clean up. There was mud and silt and rubbish everywhere.”
In what’s become known as the ANZAC hospital, the New Zealanders are working along side Australian Defence Force personnel to treat the sick and injured.
“Malnutrition and dehydration are quite common. We’re also seeing a lot of lacerations, wounds and broken bones.”
This week an Infectious Diseases Medical ward was opened. The twenty bed facility a small triumph for the team, which works around the clock.
The ward adds to the outpatients department, surgical ward and operating theatre already in use.
The hospital, which has limited water and intermittent power, doubles as home for Shane. It’s a far cry from Napier and Hastings where his family lives. But Shane doesn’t mind sleeping on a stretcher or eating from a ration pack.”
“We’ve just got to get on with the job – that’s what we’re here to do.”
For further information please contact CDR Sandy McKie 04 496 0299 or 021 441 523
Photo Caption: Sergeant Shane Foster outside the Banda Aceh Public Hospital .
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