International Medical Corps Training Prepares First Responders for Recent Quakes

Indonesia is one of the most disaster-prone places on earth. With this in mind, International Medical Corps launched a training program called Strengthening Emergency Preparedness and Response in Indonesia (SEPRI) in September 2005, which aims to improve emergency preparedness in Indonesia. Its goal: to expand the capabilities of Ambulan 118, a local medical disaster response organization, to respond rapidly and effectively to large-scale emergencies anywhere in the country.

PHOTO: IMC

IMC simulated a building collapse. Here fire and rescue workers practice cutting through concrete with an extraction saw.

The earthquakes that struck Indonesia on September 12 and 13 are exactly the kind of crises that the SEPRI program was conceived to manage. On the 9th of September, just three days before the first earthquake struck, IMC and Ambulan 118 conducted a disaster response simulation training in Padang, one of the regions where the September 12 earthquake struck. Earlier this year, IMC also evaluated the emergency capacity of Bengkulu district, another region that was hit by the September 12 earthquake. The assessment looked at health facilities, staffing, equipment, and shelter to determine what kind of additional support would be needed in an emergency.

“Because the IMC/Ambulan 118 team had a solid understanding of the emergency response capacity in two of the regions where the earthquakes struck, as well as contacts across a range of government and non-governmental institutions in the area, we were able to respond very quickly,” says Nesya Hughes, Acting Country Director of IMC’s Indonesia office. Government officials told IMC that the simulation exercise made them more confident in responding rapidly.

PHOTO: IMC

IMC trains Indonesian first responders in disaster management, trauma care, and life support techniques critical to saving lives in any disaster scenario.

Among the many courses that have been offered to policemen, paramedics, and other emergency response professionals since SEPRI’s inception: Basic Life Support; Disaster Management; Medical First Responder; and Basic Trauma Cardiac Life Support. IMC’s program with Ambulan 118 has led to successful emergency responses over the past two years, such as the Yogyakarta earthquake, the Padang earthquake, which is in the same region as the current earthquake, the Jakarta floods, and the Morowali (Central Sulawesi) floods.