2nd November 2009 Padang West Sumatra – Earthquake aftermath

Its Sunday morning in Padang and I am the first one up but there are already a number of local people standing outside waiting for a medical consultation and medicine!

Lunchtime
Cases this morning were malaria, post viral joint pains and hypertension a post traumatis stress syndrome and many with anxiety symptoms.

After breakfast Jane and I did our usual daily check of 4 patients at the bottom of the hill who cannot make the walk up here.

There is a 25 year male with two and a half months of diarrhoea and vomiting and consequent severe malnutrition now. Probably secondary to Typhoid fever, which has now been treated, but we are checking on him regularly as any small infection now will certainly kill him.

There is a 66 year woman with a three week history of being unable to get out of bed since the big earthquake, and was also suffering diarrhoea and vomiting as well as usual osteoarthritis joint pains. She is better physically and now we are trying to mobilize her.

A 27 year old woman who I have treated long term, 2 years for severe infection of her breast and 10 days ago removed a golf ball size infected fibrous nodule from her breast. Unfortunately one night there was a large aftershock, she was terrified and jumped out of bed to run out of her house for safety and started the new wound bleeding. We are now treating the consequence of this.

And then there is a 53 year woman who had her 22 year old son die more than 10 years ago from a fever, possibly Dengue or Malaria and has withdrawn into herself since and when first seen she was crawling on the concrete outside her house and calling out for her son. She has a caring husband and after getting her history it seemed she had a possible depressive psychosis, so we
are treating her and already her sleep is less disturbed, she is quieter in the daytime and spontaneously appropriately moving and trying speech, so progress here is an ongoing thing.

The damage to buildings has to be seen to be believed. Many are severely damaged but nevertheless are still standing but they will have to be demolished as a lot are in imminent danger of collapse.

Two days ago we got some donated medicines from the Padang Dinas Kesehatan (severely cracked government health department buildings, in which people are still working at their desks !!!