DNV’s water expert Marte Ness is now operating as a Red Cross delegate in Banda Aceh. She is currently ensuring the Red Cross field hospital water supplies.
“I’ve been busy at the field hospital, so I’ve been to the city – or what used to be a city – only once. It’s quite unreal - as we’ve all seen on TV there’s nothing left. Everything is completely flat, with soldiers and dead people everywhere,” she says.
The hospital, which can hold 100 patients and has its own helipad, is situated outside the city. After taking only a few days to erect, the hospital started admitting patients on Saturday morning. It can treat all kinds of patients, but many seem to have trouble with their lungs after swallowing dirty seawater.
The Norwegian Red Cross team consists of 35 professionals - 33 experienced rescue workers and two completely new ones - who have been working day and night to make the hospital ready.
Impressed
“This is impressive. These people are so professional, so hard-working and so nice to be with,” says Marte Ness.
Her job has so far been to physically establish the hospital’s water-supply pipeline system: coupling pipes, driving the truck, and making the tap stations and pumps work. Purified water arrives in a large tank lorry every day and is transferred to the hospital’s water tank for further distribution from there.
Once the hospital is up and running, she expects to work on establishing local water-treatment plants in the region. Two portable water-drilling rigs have been developed as part of DNV’s partnership with the Red Cross, and one of them may be shipped to Banda Aceh somewhat later in the process. The most important thing these first few days has been the hospital.
Indescribable fates
Marte Ness underlines that she is being well taken care of by her experienced Red Cross colleagues. She is thankful to have the chance to contribute to the relief work following this extensive tragedy.
“As the hospital started admitting patients, all their stories emerged and these made a deep impression on me. This place is filled with indescribable fates. Nobody here is untouched. Everybody has lost loved ones,” says Marte Ness.