Doctor working in Nias calls for volunteers

Doctors, nurses, dentists and physiotherapists were needed on the Indonesian island of Nias before yesterday's devastating earthquake and obviously now the need is urgent, says Dr Derek Allen, who has been based there for nearly three months.

He was in Gisborne last week to try to recruit volunteers and support for the mobile clinics he has been running on Nias for the International Christian Mission.

Yesterday he was out of the danger zone and in Vanuatu when the quake hit.

After hearing of the disaster last night, Dr Allen cut short his Vanuatu visit to return to Nias.

Reports estimate more than a thousand people have been killed in Nias' main city, Gunungsitoli, which is Dr Allen's base. It is believed up to 80 per cent of the buildings in the city were damaged.

Speaking from Vanuatu last night Dr Allen said, "Obviously I don't know the situation because I have just heard second-hand reports, but undoubtedly the need for volunteers will be greater."

A former Gisborne physician, Dr Allen was in Vanuatu making arrangements to get his helicopter transported to Nias.

Before heading to the tsunami-devasted Nias in early January, he was working in Vanuatu and sold his Auckland home to finance the helicopter to make it easier to reach patients in the Malampa Province, which has 16 islands.

"I have permission from the vice-governor of the province to take the helicopter to Nias to use for the clinics. He told me he was happy to have it there," Dr Allen said.

"My main problem is getting it there. I am hoping to get sponsorship to have it freighted. I am not sure how much it will cost, but it could be anywhere up to $10,000.

"It was great value in Vanuatu and was brought over by the New Zealand Defence Department."

A licensed helicopter pilot, Dr Allen said he had considered the option of flying the machine to Nias, but this would be a last resort as he was not sure if it was possible. He was considering all options.

The Gunungsitoli airport runway was damaged in the earthquake and reports last night said that aid services were using helicopters and small planes to gain access to the area, which was about seven or eight hours away from the mainland by sea.

Arriving back in New Zealand today, Dr Allen will fly out tomorrow to Singapore, where he will check up on Viktor, the 14-year-old burns victim he has been treating.

He was pleased Viktor was now in the care of Dr Colin Song, a respected plastic surgeon at Singapore Hospital. Red Cross had agreed to pay any shortfall for Viktor's treatment.

While in a Nias displacement camp after the December tsunami, Viktor received third degree burns to 70 per cent of his body when a stove he was cooking on exploded.

Dr Allen said the last report he received from members of the Christian mission said that Viktor was not doing as well as expected.

"Because of his open wounds his body is losing protein," Dr Allen said.

"He is on a high-calorie diet, but it is a battle for him to eat enough to replace the protein he is losing.

"Viktor will require months of outpatient treatment and International Christian Mission are arranging for a family to look after him and his mother."

Dr Allen, who plans to spend at least one or two years on Nias, said the need for medical care in the area was urgent.

Two New Zealand doctors have volunteered to join the mobile clinic team but it will be a couple of months before they can go.

Gisborne nurse Margaret Thorpe, who has already spent a month in Nias with SurfAid in the tsunami aftermath and worked with Dr Allen in Vanuatu, plans to return.

Last night she said she could not go immediately but, when possible, she would go back and help Dr Allen and also work with SurfAid.

When she contacted SurfAid founder Dr Dave Jenkins yesterday he asked if she had her bags packed.

"SurfAid have a team on the ground and Dave was taking a team from Padang to evaluate the situation on Nias. When I spoke to him he had not had any contact with the Nias team," Mrs Thorpe said.

"I have work commitments at the moment, but when the opportunity arises I will return to help."

- NZPA