25 January 2005
Establishing a basic communication system in the devastation wrought by the tsunami in Banda Aceh is one of Army communication specialist Cpl Phil Johnston's first priorities.
Cpl Johnston, originally from Gisborne, is in Banda Aceh in northern Indonesia to support the 30-strong New Zealand Defence Force medical team, which is living and working in what is left of the Banda Aceh Public Hospital. The hospital, formerly a modern 460-bed medical facility, is now largely rubble and silt, although several wards have been cleared to enable injured patients to be treated.
Banda Aceh was hit hardest by the tsunami, with the coastal region being first rocked by an earthquake then ravaged by the tsunami. At the public hospital two stories were hit by a wall of water, which took with it beds, medicine, equipment and people. It is estimated half of the nine hundred staff who worked there are dead.
A signaler normally based at Linton Camp, Cpl Johnston is no stranger to establishing communications in remote and devastated areas: he has done two tours of duty in East Timor, and recently returned from a deployment with the NZDF Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan.
Of those arriving at the hospital for treatment, malnutrition and dehydration are common. Many of the tsunami survivors have lacerations, wounds and broken bones. Maintaining hygiene is difficult with so much water and mud around, and only the most basic of equipment.
An infectious diseases medical ward has been opened, and the 20-bed facility is a "small triumph" for the medical team, which works around the clock. The ward adds to the outpatients department, surgical ward and operating theatre already in use.
Cpl Johnston, whose wife Joanne is expecting their first child later this year, says the living conditions and scarcity of fresh rations is a challenge, but so too is the thought that the team can improve life for the thousands affected by the tsunami.
For further information please contact Cdr Sandy McKie 04 4960299 or 021 441 523
Photo Caption: Corporal Philip Johnston of 2Signals from Linton camp getting communications up and running.