DEFENCE MEDIA RELEASE
Issued by Ministerial Support and Public Affairs, Department of Defence, Canberra, ACT
Phone: 02 6127 1999, Fax: 02 6265 1545
MSPA 344/09
Friday, 16 October 2009
PADANG ASSIST PRIMARY HEALTH CARE FACILITY
Medical treatment is being given to the residents of a remote Indonesian village by an
Australian Army Primary Health Care Facility (PHCF) in the wake of the devastating
earthquake which rocked the region two weeks ago.
Members of the 1st Health Support Battalion (1HSB) from Sydney, have been
providing basic medical aid to the villagers of SeiGerringing, 70km north of the city
of Padang for over a week and have treated more than 400 patients.
Working closely with the World Health Organisation, the facility is providing medical
support in the place of a local medical clinic which was damaged in the 30th
September earthquake.
Patients have been travelling up to four hours just to attend the military health clinic
which is treating up to 70 patients each day.
Captain (CAPT) Bradley Holls is a Nursing Officer from 1HSB and is currently
providing medical treatment in the village and the local people are seeking help for
very serious medical conditions.
“Most of the injuries from the earthquake have been presented to us and now people
are arriving with more chronic illnesses,” said Captain Bradley.
Providing primary care is only one function of the facility. The commanding officer
of the clinic Lieutenant Colonel Lachlan Sinclair, has been involved in community
engagement programs with a local school and other community groups. They will
soon send out small teams to provide aid to settlements within a ten kilometre radius
of SeiGerringing.
“We have been working with the local mayor and police to help integrate ourselves
into the community,” said Lieutenant Colonel Lachlan Sinclair.
“We were also invited to speak with the children from the local junior high school
about what we are doing. It was a privilege to talk with them.
“What we are doing here is very important to the local population; every time we
come somewhere like this, a little piece of it stays with our hearts forever.”
Media Note:
Imagery will be available at:
Media contact: Defence Media Liaison: 02 6127 1999 or 0408 498 664
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