The New Zealand Defence Force deployment to Banda Aceh, including the medical team and the RNZAF providing transport for the relief effort, finished in late February to allow humanitarian aid in the region to be taken over by the Indonesian Government and the United Nations.
The medical team’s senior national officer Lieutenant Colonel Evan Williams says he is proud of the work his team has done. The 30-strong team, which was transported to the devastated area by an RNZAF C- 130 Hercules, spent several days cleaning the mud and debris-strewn Banda Aceh regional hospital before establishing an infectious diseases ward, and a resuscitation and surgical facility. Working alongside their Australian counterparts they treated conditions such as tetanus, aspiration pneumonia, and skin diseases, as well as fractures and limb amputations.
“The team has worked extremely hard in what have at times been atrocious conditions. All the New Zealanders, including the RNZAF team, which transported us and our equipment here, have made a valuable contribution to the relief effort. The medical team which replaced the first in mid- February, and returned home recently, also made a valuable contribution.
“We spent the first five days scraping and scrubbing layers of sewage-contaminated mud. There was hardly any water, but we all got stuck in. We hadn’t quite finished, and patients just started coming in. “We came here as a primary health care team, but on the way the picture changed. We thought we could be going out and about, but our focus was directed towards the surgical wards which was most appropriate for this environment.”
The conditions have been tough, but our training lets us cope with that. All the soil that is being tramped around here is 90 percent fecal contaminated, and I’ve got to admit I was worried for my peoples’ safety. But they’re a self-disciplined bunch - they know to look after themselves. This Anzac hospital was the first medical organisation here with a full range of services. We’ve given the people of Banda Aceh their hospital back, and although we’ve lost a few, we’ve saved many lives. I think this team can feel good about what it has achieved.” Major Charmaine Pene, Contingent Commander
“The deployment had roughly three stages to it. At first the team was treating injuries and conditions directly related to the tsunami – messy wounds, aspiration pneumonia, and basic surgical debriding. After a week or so they found they were treating people who had been hurt in the tsunami and because of underlying conditions such as tuberculosis or diabetes, had become ill. In its latter weeks in Aceh the team was treating chronic conditions such as pneumonia.
“We encountered many diseases we would not normally see in New Zealand, such as leprosy and parasitic conditions. Tetanus was a big problem. The tetanus vaccination programme in Aceh is relatively new, and only the kids have been vaccinated. It’s not a condition we see much of in New Zealand, and we had to quickly learn the best way to cope with these patients. We talked with many of the other doctors here as part of the aid effort, and eventually found a good formula that enabled many of these patients to recover well.” Major Paul Nealis, senior medical officer
"It was the photographs of smiling children, newly-weds and happy holiday makers that brought the enormity of the Boxing Day tsunami home to me.
I knew, seeing their photographs pinned to the noticeboards at Phuket by relatives desperate to find them, that they were probably mostly all dead. That until the tsunami struck, they were happy, loved by friends and family, and enjoying themselves in the sun. For me it put a distinctly human face to the tragedy. I
accompanied the media team that flew to the devastated areas to report on the incident and to let the New Zealand public know what was being done to assist those still alive, and to find those who had died in the devastating tsunami.
The RNZAF had flown a team of New Zealand disaster victim identification police to Thailand where it was thought most holidaying New Zealanders would have been based. Also on the flight were a police disaster victim identification team, NZDF medics, a detachment from 2 Signals Squadron, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs representatives.
Banda Aceh was a sea of mud. The media were able to see just what the light medical team did in first cleaning out the hospital, and then beginning to treat patients. There was a deluge of rain every day, which made conditions even worse, but the NZDF team just kept working. Morale was high and I felt very proud of them. They took everything in their stride, including a menacing earthquake at 4.30 one morning. Our Air Force team seemed to be working almost around the clock, too.It was like a race - they were ferrying injured and displaced people out of Aceh, and taking supplies in. The professionalism displayed by the team was very impressive.” Commander Sandy McKie, RNZN, NZ media liaison and facilitation