MSF surgical team starts operation in Sigil, East from Banda Aceh

One of the primary tasks for the MSF staff is to improve the sanitation in the hospital, which was described by the exploratory team as 'appalling'

An MSF surgical team has started working in Sigli General District Hospital. Sigli, the capital of Pidie district on the eastern coast of Aceh, is an area that has been hit hard by the tsunami. The 35-bed hospital has remained open with the help of Indonesian volunteer staff (many of the employees of the hospital died in the tsunami), providing treatment and operations.

During the weekend, an MSF exploratory mission found the surgical ward of Sigli hospital to be crammed with injured patients. Every day, more arrive from all over Pidie, but also from Banda Aceh. In the first 60 consultations, MSF found 20 infected wounds and performed surgery on six wounded people. One of the primary tasks for the MSF staff is to improve the sanitation in the hospital, which was described by the exploratory team as 'appalling.' The next few days will also see an increase in capacity with the opening of a further building with 18 rooms.

In the same area, MSF has started a mobile clinic in Kembang Tanjung for the displaced population. The displaced live in 60 camps which house an estimated 47,000 people. In the first instance, MSF is concentrating on the bigger sites composing of around 3,000 people each.

Further east from Sigli, in the General District Hospital of Bireuen, MSF donated drugs and infusion materials, and set up a medical supply link with the MSF team in Sigli. In the two hospitals there are some 400 patients with 50 arriving daily; in recent days 80 per cent of the new arrivals have been from Banda Aceh.

The MSF mobile clinic in Banda Aceh spent 4th January among the approximately 1,000 displaced around a mosque in the Cot Keung area. The 141 consultations were mainly for injuries, skin diseases and respiratory tract infections.

Further logistical difficulties have been posed by Tuesday's closure of the airport in Banda Aceh. But with the 120 tonnes of relief items that MSF brought in over the previous days, there was enough buffer stock to guarantee continuity for our medical teams, though they were running low on nutritional items.

The problems at the airport did not interrupt the schedule of the MSF helicopter. It flew to Lamno and Lampe-Ngo on the west coast to deliver 270 kilos of rice, 100 tarpaulins and drop off a water and sanitation specialist. In both villages, MSF teams are staying overnight. On the return journey, the helicopter transported seven patients in need of hospitalisation. They are now in Fakine hospital receiving treatment for broken legs and infected wounds.

The Rainbow Warrior, offered to MSF by Greenpeace for transport and for increased access to coastal communities, left Medan yesterday carrying a medical team of MSF and supplies. The ship is scheduled to arrive in Banda Aceh on Thursday morning.