At 7:58am on Boxing Day 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake occurred on the ocean floor 60 kilometres off the west coast of northern Sumatra in Indonesia. This earthquake caused a large volume of water to form gigantic waves that moved in all directions, initially at speeds of 700 km/h and reaching heights of 15 metres. What ultimately resulted in a tsunami, tragically claimed the lives of 230,000 people in a matter of hours, destroyed 141,000 homes and devastated the local fishing and agriculture industries. The earthquake’s effects were so substantial that they could be felt in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and as far away as the Seychelles, and Somalia.
In response, the New South Wales Fire Brigades (NSWFB; now Fire and Rescue NSW) sent three Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams to Indonesia, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka to aid in the recovery effort.
USAR Deployment
Banda Aceh, Indonesia
Three days after the initial earthquake, on 29 December 2004 two members of the NSWFB USAR Task Force, Station Officer Bruce Cameron and Senior Firefighter Greg Watson, travelled to Banda Aceh to provide logistical support for the Combined Australian Surgical Team. A RAAF plane was loaded with 17-tonnes of equipment and essential supplies so the USAR team could be completely self-sufficient when in Banda Aceh. When they arrived at the airfield in Banda Aceh, they spent the first night at the edge of the tarmac before conducting a reconnaissance mission to find transport and a suitable space to set up as a hospital. Both Cameron and Watson said they were unprepared for the sites that they saw, with the tsunami’s 12-metre-high wall of water having travelled five kilometres inland, leaving a sea of destruction. Once the team had met with United Nation representatives, they set up their base at a small private hospital which suffered some earthquake damage but was thankfully spared from the tsunami. The team began by setting up tarps to collect rainwater for washing since the hospital had no water or power.
The main concern for the doctors and nurses was the potential for disease and infection as there was an incalculable number of severe injuries. The team started by triaging people as they worked alongside world class surgeons. They received about 250 people a day who were treated in the makeshift hospital, with around 20 major surgeries happening in near impossible conditions. The job of the USAR personnel was to do whatever was necessary to keep the hospital running, including holding lights in the operating theatre and changing oxygen cylinders. The improvisation skills of firefighters came in very handy as they would be repurposing anything they could to keep people comfortable and keep the operation running.
The Maldives
On 30 December 2004 Senior Rescue Instructor, Station Officer Chris Sykes, flew to the Maldives to provide logistical support to a team of 15 medical personnel, which included RAAF reserve doctors, nurses, infectious disease specialists, anaesthetists and surgeons. They were one of the first relief teams to arrive in the Maldives, so once they landed, they were put straight to work, travelling by ferry to Malé Island to meet with the Health Ministry. They had so much gear that it had to be pulled apart and ferried across in several trips.
The devastation from the tsunami affected more than 1000 islands, with over 80 people already confirmed dead and 26 missing. Despite the disaster, the infrastructure was still largely intact meaning Sykes and the team could be fully accommodated, which left a large amount of the self-sustainability gear such as food and tents to be sent to where it was needed most. Compared to Banda Aceh, the Maldives didn’t require as much emergency medical work, so the teams focus was on public health including, children’s health, quality of drinking water, sanitation and waste management, and the ongoing sustainability of the islands. The team then split into three smaller teams so they could visit more clinics around the islands and help more people.
When it was time for the team to return back to Australia, Sykes was instructed to leave all the gear behind so it could be put to use by locals. He visited the local Malé Fire Station where he donated much of the equipment.
Sri Lanka
The third USAR team sent from Australia was led by Station Officer Tim Fox who flew to Sri Lanka as part of a medical task force. The purpose of this team was to find any infectious disease or uncover any conditions in the refugee camps which might lead to an outbreak of infectious disease. Since the assistance they gave was primarily medical support they had to downsize their equipment as they would be travelling light around Sri Lanka. Any gear that they did bring was there to support the doctors and cater to the drivers of the truck carrying the supplies and equipment.
Once they had arrived in Sri Lanka, they discovered that Ampara, an area in the Eastern Province, was the hardest hit area. When they arrived at the relief camps, which were mostly situated in school classrooms and local halls, housed between one and three thousand people. The medical teams went into each camp to find out how many families, how many children, how many under five, and how many pregnant people there were. They also checked on food preparation and eating areas to make sure there was enough food and water. This also included checking the hygiene supplies, toilets and handwashing facilities. The water supply had been contaminated due to the tsunami and flash flooding which occurred due to torrential rain, so safe drinking water had to be trucked in. Despite the devastating conditions, the people were diligent in keeping the eating areas clean and paid attention to hygiene. The low-lying coastal areas suffered the worst of the devastation with almost all the houses being completely flattened from the power of the wave. Tragically ten thousand people in Ampara alone were killed, and 160 injured.
This deployment was only the third time NSWFB personnel had been sent overseas to a major disaster that required significant humanitarian assistance, which provided an important test of their capabilities and demonstrated their ability to deploy equipment needed to sustain teams in the field at short notice. FRNSW still remain the lead agency for the NSW USAR Task Force and have demonstrated these capabilities time and time again in the twenty years since the Boxing Day Tsunami.
-Story by the Museum of Fire Heritage Team
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