ID :
83869
Fri, 10/09/2009 - 16:36
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/83869
The shortlink copeid
Three tsunami victims stable: hospital
Three Australian victims of the Samoa disaster are in a stable condition in a
southern Queensland hospital.
Six patients injured in the Samoa tsunami were transported by the RAAF to the
Amberley air base on October 2, before being taken to Ipswich Hospital for
treatment.
A hospital spokeswoman told AAP on Friday that two men and a woman remained in
hospital and were in a stable condition.
One man was in serious condition on Thursday but his condition had improved, she said.
All three, who the hospital has declined to identify, are expected to remain in
hospital over the weekend.
Two women and a man were discharged from the hospital on October 2.
Meanwhile, a team of NSW doctors, nurses, paramedics and firefighters has returned
from a humanitarian mission in Samoa.
The 33-member team spent eight days in the Pacific nation following the massive
earthquake that triggered a tsunami last week.
They worked with the Samoan Ministry of Health to stem outbreaks of disease in
affected areas.
People were treated in hot and humid conditions under tarpaulins and in hospitals,
Dr Ron Manning, head of Ambulance NSW's Medical Retrieval Unit said, when the team
returned to Sydney on Friday.
Paramedic Adrian Humprey said some people who needed treatment first had to be
located in outlying areas, while others were initially reluctant to receive medical
attention.
"(People had) gone from the coast where they lived, and they moved up into higher
ground because they were worried another tsunami was going to happen," he said.
"We had to find these people, and we had to entice those who were injured to come
back and be treated.
"Many of them didn't want white-man medicine or traditional western medicine, so we
had to entice them."
Penny Lord, a nurse from Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital, treated patients at
hospitals in three villages.
Many dead bodies had washed up against one hospital.
"A lot of patients were reluctant to go back there," she said, so an abandoned
clinic in another village was reopened.
She said much of her work involved dressing wounds and treating infections.
southern Queensland hospital.
Six patients injured in the Samoa tsunami were transported by the RAAF to the
Amberley air base on October 2, before being taken to Ipswich Hospital for
treatment.
A hospital spokeswoman told AAP on Friday that two men and a woman remained in
hospital and were in a stable condition.
One man was in serious condition on Thursday but his condition had improved, she said.
All three, who the hospital has declined to identify, are expected to remain in
hospital over the weekend.
Two women and a man were discharged from the hospital on October 2.
Meanwhile, a team of NSW doctors, nurses, paramedics and firefighters has returned
from a humanitarian mission in Samoa.
The 33-member team spent eight days in the Pacific nation following the massive
earthquake that triggered a tsunami last week.
They worked with the Samoan Ministry of Health to stem outbreaks of disease in
affected areas.
People were treated in hot and humid conditions under tarpaulins and in hospitals,
Dr Ron Manning, head of Ambulance NSW's Medical Retrieval Unit said, when the team
returned to Sydney on Friday.
Paramedic Adrian Humprey said some people who needed treatment first had to be
located in outlying areas, while others were initially reluctant to receive medical
attention.
"(People had) gone from the coast where they lived, and they moved up into higher
ground because they were worried another tsunami was going to happen," he said.
"We had to find these people, and we had to entice those who were injured to come
back and be treated.
"Many of them didn't want white-man medicine or traditional western medicine, so we
had to entice them."
Penny Lord, a nurse from Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital, treated patients at
hospitals in three villages.
Many dead bodies had washed up against one hospital.
"A lot of patients were reluctant to go back there," she said, so an abandoned
clinic in another village was reopened.
She said much of her work involved dressing wounds and treating infections.
