Trauma centers set up for workers in Koja, Cakung
Trauma centers set up for workers in Koja, Cakung
Leony Aurora, Jakarta
Two trauma centers have been set up in Koja Regional Hospital and
Nusantara Bonded Zone (KBN) clinic in Cakung, both in North
Jakarta, to provide emergency medical treatment for workers
involved in work-related accidents.
Both locations have provided such services in the past year,
but have had their equipment and building upgraded recently,
funded by state insurance company PT Jamsostek.
The 24-hour emergency room in the clinic was freshly painted
in green and five beds stood ready when The Jakarta Post went to
the KBN clinic on Tuesday.
"Jamsostek disbursed Rp 60 million (US$6,424) for the building
renovation," said Empat Patonah, a doctor at the clinic.
The clinic should receive Rp 108 million-worth of medical
equipment such as a respirator, neck braces and an
electrocardiogram (EKG) from PT Jamsostek, by the end of June.
Private companies are obliged to pay the social insurance
Jamsostek to cover pensions, health and work-related accidents.
The current practice is that a clinic charges fees to the
companies. The companies in turn obtain reimbursement of the fees
from Jamsostek.
"If a company associates with the trauma center, we can claim
the medical fees directly from Jamsostek," said Empat.
However, by April, only 16 of 116 industrial firms in the
bonded zone had entered an association arrangement. Four workers
at companies that are part of the program have been treated since
the center was officially opened in May.
In total, 232 workers had accidents in the workplace in the
industrial complex in May alone. The clinic caters to the medical
needs of some 80,000 employees and their families.
Immediate assistance is highly important as the complex is
quite far from Koja hospital, while the road is often jammed.
"We hope that Jamsostek can provide us with an ambulance to
add to the one we have here," said Patonah.
Koja hospital has received an ambulance and medical equipment
from PT Jamsostek.
"We have converted our eighth floor from a boarding house for
nurses to rooms for trauma patients," hospital head Etty Sumiyeti
told the Post. Twenty beds are available on the floor while
immediate assistance is given in the emergency room.
Sumiyeti also said that the hospital had obtained the services
of another orthopedic doctor for the trauma center.
Data from Jamsostek shows that, nationwide, from January 2004
to March 2004, there were 20,937 work-related accidents. Some
2,133 or 10.19 percent of those injured became permanently
handicapped.
Immediate provision of medical aid in the first few hours
after an accident is believed to reduce the fatality rate by up
to 85 percent.