Surfing doctors, the first to help

Surfing doctors, the first to help

Margie Mason Associated Press/Vietnam

When the huge earthquake struck the remote reef-fringed islands off Sumatra's western coast on Monday, surfers were among the few outsiders already in the region and among the first to respond.

SurfAid International -- a small aid agency started by a New Zealand doctor after treating sick children during a surf trip to the islands -- had staff on Nias island when the magnitude-8.7 quake hit.

The organization has worked for five years among islands of western Sumatra, helping malnourished children and educating villagers about diseases like malaria. Its members know the geography and demographics well, and have long relationships with local health officials -- meaning fast access for the group.

"Our medical teams were one of the first in and operating," said Jude Barrand, the group's spokeswoman.

SurfAid had been busy with inoculations and prevention campaigns in places where disease was a risk after the tsunami. Its teams quickly switched to first aid after Monday's quake, treating people injured by falling buildings or debris.

"Emergency disease and outbreak prevention was the first step and we already swept most of the villages," said Barrand. "Now we're doing emergency treatment and triage."

The group also had staff on nearby Simeulue island when the quake struck. A medical team on its way plans to treat victims in the main town of Sinabang before moving to more hard-to-reach areas on the island, Barrand said.

Marcus Keeshan, an Australian surf tour operator who was anchored near Banyak island when the quake hit, described how his boat was sucked downward before the ocean current suddenly switched directions and picked up speed.

Keeshan told Australian Associated Press his Indonesian crew members recited prayers, while he revved up boat's motor to help keep it stable. "We were all thinking 'tsunami' but none of us wanted to say it," Keeshan said.

After two hours, the sea went calm.

SurfAid was started in 2000 after Dr. Dave Jenkins first visited the Mentawai islands with only one thing in mind: catching perfect waves.

He was staying offshore on a luxury yacht with all the modern conveniences of home, living a life most surfers only dream about. That changed when he hit the beach one afternoon and found villages filled with children suffering from malnutrition and preventable diseases.

"It looked like paradise, then you go on shore and it all changes," he said. "I was optimistic. I thought if (surfers) are coming here in big numbers, maybe there's a way of coming and creating something unique and leaving a legacy by the surfing world."

Jenkins, 45, from New Zealand, quit his job as a corporate doctor, sold his house and moved to the Mentawais to set up SurfAid.

When the December tragedy occurred, SurfAid used its local contacts to get to far-flung areas where no other aid had penetrated, helping an estimated 70,000 survivors in the first two months after the disaster.

"We were there. We had the connections," Jenkins said. "This is the surfing industry's stomping grounds."