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Australia’s Health Response to the Tsunami Disaster

Speech by John Horvath AO, Chief Medical Officer, 16 March 2005.

PDF printable version of Australia’s Health Response to the Tsunami Disaster (PDF 55 KB)

16 March 2005

Slide 1

Australia’s Health Response to the Tsunami Disaster
Professor John Horvath, Chief Medical Officer, 16 March 2005

Slide 2: A Complex Response

Australia’s Health Response to the Tsunami Disaster
Professor John Horvath, Chief Medical Officer, 16 March 2005

• Multi-national - with a focus on Indonesia
• Multi-departmental - Health, Defence, AusAID, Emergency Management, Federal Police, Foreign Affairs
• Multi-jursidictional - Federal, State and Territory governments

In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, the Department of Health and Ageing was asked to collaborate with jurisdictions to organise national health assistance to affected countries. Although assistance was provided across the region, it was decided early on that the focus of Australia’s assistance should be Indonesia, considering the devastation in Aceh and the close bilateral relationship between our two countries.

The Department’s response to the Tsunami Disaster was a complex affair which required rapid consultation with affected nations through diplomatic channels, and efficient coordination of response activities amongst the various federal government departments involved in the response as well as those of the states and territories.

Slide 3: Health Priorities

• Rapid health assessments and consultation
• Rapid emergency medical care
• Health surveillance and analysis - detecting new threats and predicting future needs
• Medium-term medical care
• Long-term health system capacity strengthening

Slide 4: Health Coordination

• Inter-departmental emergency taskforce (IDETF)
• Australian Health Disaster Management and Policy Committee (AHDMPC)
• Health's National Incident Room (NIR)
• State and Territory emergency management - NSW Health Counter Disaster Unit

National coordination of the Tsunami response and priority setting was led by the Inter-departmental emergency taskforce made up of senior representatives from all the relevant federal government departments and agencies.

The health response was coordinated by the Department through the Australian Health Disaster Management Policy Committee, a group of senior public health and emergency management specialists representing from the Commonwealth and all of states and territories, normally tasked with creating policy and improving preparedness for Health Disasters. In response to the Tsunami this committee quickly became an operational group who led the national health response.

The AHDMPC committee was supported by the Department’s purpose-built National Incident Room developed partly in response to the Bali bombing tragedy, which provides support for the logistics, communications, surveillance and analysis of national health incidents.

The Department was also greatly assisted by the existing and often extensive emergency management infrastructure within the states and territories, particularly the NSW Health Counter Disaster Unit.

Slide 5: Civilian Medical Teams

• Total of 8 teams


• 5 teams to Aceh (103 personnel)
  
  • From 29 December to 11 February
  
  
  • Working with local authorities
  
  
  • Initially a surgeon/medical focus
  
  
  • Based at Fakinah hospital - later moved to the Provincial Hospital
  
  
  • Always a public health component
  
  
  • Helped to restore emergency laboratory capacity


• Handover to AusAID health systems teams

Although the focus of our deployment of civilian medical teams was to Aceh, single teams were also sent to Phu Ket in Thailand, as well as to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

After discussions with local authorities in Banda Aceh, the first Australian civilian medical teams deployed initially established a base at the private Fakinah hospital and needed to be almost completely self-sufficient.

Under very difficult conditions they had performed 10 - 20 operations a day for patients who have severe injuries related to the Tsunami.

They also treated hundreds of other patients with other serious medical conditions such as tetanus, severe lung infections and diarrheal disease. Our civilian effort was in addition to a large Australian Defence Force contingent of medics and a field hospital which came later.

Slide 6: Domestic Issues

• Managing volunteers and donations
  
  • >6600 calls to a volunteer hotline with >5300 health professional volunteers registered


• Accessing specialised treatments
  • eg. High dose tetanus immunogloblin


• Managing the media

Slide 7: On-going roles

• Expert advice
  • To AusAID working with GoI on Aceh health system redevelopment


• Enhanced preparedness
  • For natural disasters and other health incidents with large health consequences
  
  
  • Domestic capacity and regional responsiveness