Delivering medical supplies to Puskesmas Sailus
Puskesmas means public health centre, the centre on Sailus island is the primary healthcare provider for 7000 people living in the western part of the archipelago. The islands are remote and isolated. They can also become inaccessible to smaller boats during the rainy season. It is difficult to find doctors who are willing to live and work there. The health staff consists of nurses and midwives who are natives of the islands and received their basic training in Sulawesi or Sumbawa. The average salary for a midwife is around 500 000 IDR (35USD) per month, so midwives are mainly volunteers.
We visited these islands for the first time last year and on our return were able to deliver all the items the health centre requested. These included a portable ultrasound scanner, fetal doppler heartbeat monitors, clinical blood pressure monitors, expendables like bandages, pharmaceuticals and many more items. A huge thanks goes to our sponsors who made this delivery possible
-
- Arrival to Pulau Sailus - Delivering medical supplies
-
- There is no good anchorage at this island. It’s surrounded by coral heads which reach up from a relative deep bottom to just below the surface - a real mine field.
-
- The health centre staff came out to help offloading the supplies from Vega.
-
- Pak Omar helped us once again this year with his small boat. Without his assistance getting to the island would have been difficult, he knows the reef and it's very shallow.
-
- The whole island group is cut off from the outside world during the north west monsoon.
-
- Puskesmas Sailus - The healthpost is very active but has very little in equipment and furnishings. There are many health problems on the island like TB, Malaria, malnutrition and various sanitation related disease.
-
- Puskesmas Sailus is responible for the healthcare of of around 7000 people in the western part of Liukang Tangaya district.
-
- Thanks to the support of our sponsors, we were able to deliver all the items the health centre asked Vega for. It included one portable Ultrasound Scanner, Foetal doppler heartbeat monitors, Clinical blood pressure monitors, expendables like bandages and pharmaceuticals and many more items.
-
- The USG will help to detect problems early, Not only in pre-natal health care. This is very important in a island group where it takes a long time by boat to reach the next hospital in Sulawesi. During the rough northwest monsoon the islands are completely isolated.
-
- For the Midwifes on the outer islands we brought solar light sets which are portable & need no maintenance and midwife resupply kits.
-
- For all battery driven equipment like foetal dopplers etc. we brought rechargeable batteries and chargers to work with the solar panels.
-
- Delivering reading glasses to Sailus island where eyeglasses are normally inaccessible
-
- Simple tests help decide what glasses prescription should be used for each individual
-
- Simple trial using needle and thread to determine if glasses are needed.
-
- Many people can have their vision restored with a simple pair of reading glasses, but in remote areas they do not have access to them.
-
- Helping older people to see clearly again improves their lives and lives in the whole community.
-
- Record keeping of patient's medical history
-
- Good vision makes life much more enjoyable.
The health centre staff asked for our further assistance, to equip the nurses and midwives on the outer islands, they need more sphygmomanometers, glucose/uric acid/cholesterol monitoring devices, partus sets, more midwife sets and contraceptives etc & educational posters to educate the community about TB, Malaria and sanitation. The government support is insufficient, so we really need to help.
Subscribe to our Newsletter for monthly updates
