Doctors have deadly tales to share

BANGALORE: Images of tsunami survivors stepping over corpses and wading their way to dry areas, devastated homes and families, catamarans and fishing nets, dismal sanitary conditions, scores of diarrhoea and other infections... About 100 doctors from Bangalore who are providing a healing touch to victims at various medical relief camps on the eastern shores have an ocean of poignant tales to tell about the disaster.
The first few medical teams from city which rushed to the affected areas are back: some shocked and some wanting to go again. "It is one of the worst disasters mankind had ever experienced," they say, recalling their task as a heart-rending experience. Says a doctor who accompanied a six-member team from the Victoria Hospital, "The district administration suggested that medical teams take turns to work in eight different relief camps in Nagapattinam and Velankanni. Camps which have come up in schools, community halls and worship places have a minimum of 350 victims every day."
Every victim they saw has a pathetic story to narrate. Some said they saw dead bodies going over them as the giant waves lashed onto the land, some others were pushing bodies away as they waded through the waters. As there were several victims with bruises requiring attention, it was thought fit to conduct a vaccination drive against tetanus. IV fluids, drugs and antibiotics were administered to avoid outbreak of water-borne diseases, a possible outcome of inadequate drinking water supply.
As relief camps cannot accommodate the required number of toilets and bathrooms, the immediate need seems to be rehabilitation, the doctor said. Other than shuttling between eight different relief camps, the team travelled some 120 km everyday as they were put up at one of their friend''s residence off Nagapattinam.
Medical relief teams from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Mumbai are mostly found to be working in the affected areas.
"In our assessment, there are enough medical teams and supply of drugs, but there is lack of coordination in distribution," said doctors from Vani Vilas Hospital and K.C. General Hospital who are serving in Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts.
The Bangalore Red Cross, which has sent nearly a dozen teams from various government and partially aided hospitals, has suggested doctors to work in affected areas for about a week. There are some doctors who have contacted stomach infections and continue to work for the victims.