International Medical Corps dispatches second boat carrying doctors to Aceh’s west coast

International Medical Corps is dispatching a second medical aid boat into a remote stretch of the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, after receiving reports from physicians who docked the first boat in Lam No that more medical aid and supplies are urgently needed. Emergency funding for the mission is being provided by the US Agency for International Development, Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA). International Medical Corps’ first boat departed Banda Aceh on Tuesday and arrived in Lam No that evening. US physicians Jeff Goodman, MD, from Kilauea, Hawaii and Bill Moore, MD, from Santa Fe, NM, reported finding approximately 10,000 displaced persons living in eight makeshift camps. Many are suffering from untreated injuries suffered in the December earthquake and tsunami, they said. Upon receiving this assessment, International Medical Corps made plans to launch a second boat Friday morning. It will carry five additional physicians—three from the US and two from Indonesia. It will also carry additional supplies requested by Drs. Goodman and Moore including medical tents, housing supplies, food, water and hygienic supplies, five survival sets, tables, chairs and plastic sheeting to enable them to open a field medical clinic immediately. Saturday morning Dr .Goodman will continue farther south along the coast, accompanied by one of the American doctors and two Indonesian physicians. They will pause often along the route, using a Zodiac-type inflatable boat, to conduct needs assessments. They are expected to dock overnight in Calang and then to continue to Meulaboh.