Preventing the second wave
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Army
Reserve officer Captain Mick Kent, from the Environmental Health
Section at the Anzac Field Hospital, located in the Banda Aceh
Hospital, hangs a mosquito trap prior to nightfall. The Environmental
Health Section constantly monitors the mosquito population in
the Banda Aceh area for signs of malaria and dengue fever.
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Major
Paul Byleveld, a reservist with the Australian Army 8th Combat
Service Support Battalion, Dundas, is on leave of absence from
his civilian employment as Manager of the Water Unit, New South
Wales Health. He is conducting readings to check the level of
chlorine in the field water supply for members of the Australian
Defence Force in Banda Aceh.
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Major
Paul Byleveld, a reservist with the Australian Army 8th Combat
Service Support Battalion, Dundas, is on leave of absence from
his civilian employment as Manager of the Water Unit, New South
Wales Health. He is conducting readings to check the level of
chlorine in the field water supply for members of the Australian
Defence Force in Banda Aceh.
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By
Corporal Cameron Jamieson - filed 09 February
2005
The
deadly tsunami that swept across the northwest coast of Aceh did more
than destroy the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
It
also paved the way for a second deadly wave - a wave of disease.
Raw
sewage and contaminated water from the rice paddies have polluted many
of the traditional sources of drinking water, creating the potential
for an outbreak of water-borne disease.
There
is also the possibility of mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria
and dengue fever, spreading among the weakened population.
To
stop this, the Australian Army quickly deployed environmental health
soldiers as part of Operation Sumatra Assist.
Major
Paul Byleveld, a Reserve soldier with the 8th Combat Service Support
Battalion in Dundas, NSW, took leave from his civilian employment as
Manager of the NSW Water Unit to be deployed to Aceh.
He
said the Environmental Health Section at the Anzac Field Hospital in
Banda Aceh was busy providing health support measures to both the ADF
personnel and the local community.
"Our first priority is to make sure the facilities that Australian personnel
are living and working in are safe and clean," he said.
"We
take disease control measures to make sure that sanitation facilities
are hygienic and that mosquitos are being controlled.
"We're also working with Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps to
look after the people there."
Fellow
Army Reserve officer Captain Mick Kent said despite the difficult sanitation
and hygiene conditions that existed when they arrived, they have been
able to overcome the situation and help others.
"We've improved our location and we have managed to push out and do
a fair bit with the IDP camps," he said.
"The
reaction of the local people has been fantastic - they are very polite
and appreciative of our help.
"The
people in the IDP camps have been keen to be trained in mosquito control
measures, as they understand the importance of public health and are
particularly concerned about mosquito-borne diseases."
One
of the major public health victories in the weeks following the Boxing
Day disaster was the lack of a disease outbreak.
Maj
Byleveld attributes this in part to the swift implementation of public
health measures, which included the provision of safe drinking water
by Australian engineers.
"For
disease outbreaks to occur you need people who are sick with a certain
illness and you need the conditions for that illness to spread," he
said.
"It
appears that the community was in fairly good health before the tsunami,
and early on the Australian engineers established a water point that
distributed clean water to the community.
"The
combination of these has probably staved off disease outbreaks."
The
work of preventing disease outbreaks is continuing, especially in the
IDP camps.
"The
IDPs are being supplied with safe drinking water and proper sanitary
facilities," Maj Byleveld said.
"We
are also providing mosquito control measures in the IDP camps, as there
are concerns that there will be an outbreak of either malaria or dengue
fever due to the record of these outbreaks occurring in the past.
"So
we are working with local public health authorities and the Indonesian
military to prevent this from happening."
Despite
the long working hours and the devastation he is surrounded by, Maj
Byleveld has found the deployment to Aceh to be a positive experience.
"We've
been a small part in a big picture," he said,"but the people have been
so thankful for what we have done."
