'USNS Mercy' continues helping tsunami victims
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post
The eyes of Moh. Iqbal, 12, sparkled as he spoke to his uncle Zulkifli sitting next to him in one of the intensive care units (ICU) aboard the USNS Mercy.
The U.S. Navy hospital ship has been specially deployed in Aceh for the past three weeks to help treat tsunami victims.
"We have been here for 12 days, and he is much better now. We are very thankful for that. I thought there was nothing that could save Iqbal as other hospitals in Banda Aceh and Medan had given up," said Zulkifli.
Iqbal was swept away by the tidal wave along with other family members. He swallowed a lot of mud and dirty water, but he managed to survive.
For Iqbal, Zulkifli is the only relative he has left, with his father, mother, and brothers all perishing in the tragedy.
The hospital ship has been anchored several kilometers off the western Aceh coast since Feb. 1.
One of the Mercy's press officers, Lt. Bashon Mann, said that around 68 patients with various ailments, including broken bones, lung problems, and burns, had been treated aboard the hospital ship since Feb.5 while thousands of others have been treated on land by the ship's medical crew in several areas of Aceh.
"We are currently treating 37 patients aboard the ship after we sent home other patients. Not all of them are tsunami victims because we have also received (general) patients from Aceh and North Sumatra during this emergency phase. You see, people in Aceh can't go to the hospitals in their areas because all them were swept away by the tsunami," he said.
Bashon, however, explained that not everyone could be treated aboard the ship as they need to be recommended by a doctor in Aceh or North Sumatra.
Commanding Officer of the USNS Mercy Captain David M. Llewellyn said that their medical officers often didn't understand what the patients wanted, and they needed the services of several interpreters. "However, when we touch them they can feel our hearts, and know our sincerity in helping them," said Llewellyn.
A volunteer doctor from the Hope project, an international non-governmental organization committed to helping people after disasters, David M. Systrom, said that the presence of the ship in Aceh waters had been helpful.
Much equipment and expertise aboard the ship cannot be found in other hospitals on the ground, including a CAT scanner, which was very helpful in treating cases of head trauma and lung injuries, said Systrom.
Converted from a supertanker in 1986, Mercy is one of the largest floating hospitals in the world. Its primary mission is to provide a surgical medical facility for the U.S military that is flexible, capable and uniquely adaptable to support expeditionary warfare. Mercy's secondary mission is to provide full hospital services to support U.S. disaster relief and humanitarian operations worldwide.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Winkenwerder said that the ship would stay at least another month.