NTT quake: Health Ministry acts to restore medical care in 1 week
Health Ministry Health Crisis Center Head Agus Jamaludin stated on Sunday that a Mobile Hospital unit, including an operating room, will be sent to Nagekeo, where the local RSUD was severely damaged.
Meanwhile, Borong Regional Hospital and Komodo Regional Hospital are being prepared as referral facilities from Nagekeo.
Of the 21 hospitals across eight districts and cities in NTT, Jamaludin noted that six suffered minor damage and three sustained severe damage. Sixteen hospitals remain fully operational, four are partially operational, and one is not yet functional.
Furthermore, out of 190 community health centers (Puskesmas) in NTT, 122 are fully operational, 49 are partially operational, and 19 are not yet functioning.
Eleven health centers sustained slight damage, 37 suffered moderate damage, and 20 were severely damaged.
“We hope that within two weeks, all damaged community health centers will be operational again, focusing on services for pregnant women, childbirth, and immunizations,” Jamaludin remarked.
His team is also finalizing the structure of the Health Emergency Operation Center (HEOC) to coordinate the disaster response.
“The HEOC team will complete a detailed assessment tomorrow of health issues, health facilities, medical equipment, and medicine needs. This will serve as a reference for the volunteer team,” Jamaludin said.
The ministry will also dispatch eight packages of basic medicines, five emergency medical kits, 1,000 sterile gloves, 20,000 non-sterile gloves, 20,000 surgical masks, 10 oxygen concentrators, and two health post tents.
“Eight tents are on standby in case a Type 1 Emergency Medical Team is needed,” he added.
On Saturday, August 15, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck NTT, with the epicenter located 38 kilometers northeast of Mbay, Nagekeo District, at a depth of 10 kilometers.
The earthquake triggered a tsunami early warning, which was later lifted by the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) at 9:00 a.m. after no tsunami was detected.
According to preliminary reports, affected areas include Manggarai, East Manggarai, West Manggarai, Nagekeo, and Sikka Districts. Verification of the impact on communities and infrastructure remains ongoing.
On the second day of post-earthquake search and rescue operations, the Maumere Search and Rescue Agency focused on two regencies in Flores, NTT.
“Today, we are focusing the search in two regencies, namely Manggarai and East Manggarai,” Maumere Search and Rescue Agency Head Fatur Rahman stated on Sunday.
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Translator: Mecca Yumna, Resinta Sulistiyandari