LEUT Bolt tends a sick child in Bougainville.

When I arrived at Bougainville and rang the ABC representative in Port Moresby to introduce myself, I was greeted with "welcome to the land of the unexpected".

This sentiment has been echoed by many of those currently serving in Bougainville and probably by many who have long since returned home to Oz.

It certainly is by one of the doctors in Loloho, LEUT Mark Bolt RANR.

He also affirms that, from a medical point of view, "you would never see the things that you see in Bougainville in any medical centre or hospital in Australia."

It is very much a case of consulting a medic or doctor as the last resort in Bougainville.

For various reasons, geographic isolation, no transport or no nearby medic, that people do not usually present at a clinic for treatment with injuries, wounds or sickness in the early stages.

It is usually not until the condition has deteriorated to such an extent that there is no alternative but to travel to a medic that they present.

Under these circumstances all sorts of unusual complications arise which would not be seen in Australia.

An example was a young married man about 30 who had been in a fight some eight weeks prior to walking into the civilian clinic in Arawa.

In order to better under stand his problem he was transported to the hospital at the PMG HQ in Loloho for xray.

Following this xray, some 6 litres of blood was drained from his chest, relieving the pressure on his lungs.

In fact he had probably been bleeding internally since the initial injury.

This condition would never present in Australia in such an advanced state.

In addition to medical work in the Combined Health Element at Loloho, the doctors attend two clinics a week at the nearby town of Arawa.

Quite often the work done by the CHE staff means the difference between life and death to the locals; as was the case with an infant suffering from pneumonia who LEUT Bolt was able to treat successfully.

By LEUT Russell Wescombe PRO Op Bel Isi