Dr. Lisa Torraca has focused on disaster relief work
since completing her residency in emergency medicine. In 2003, she became a disaster roster physician for Oregon-based Northwest Medical Teams International (see page 23). Dr. Torraca spent four weeks (January–February 2005) in the Aceh Province of Indonesia, providing emergency medical care to tsunami victims.
Shortly after the December 2004 tsunami, I received a call from Northwest Medical Teams International (NWMTI) asking if I could respond. Three weeks later I joined two other physicians and a nurse and traveled to Banda Aceh, capital of Aceh province on the island of Sumatra and site of the worst devastation.
We established two base camps from which to operate along the coast. One was at Lho Glumpang, a decimated coastal village about a half-hour north of Calang. While we held medical clinics at the base camp, a volunteer medical team would climb several miles through roads that were clogged with debris and flooded thigh-high to more remote villages up the mountainside. Using a backpack full of medications, they would hold mini-clinics for the villagers.
One day an Acehnese nurse carried a severely ill child, feverish and unconscious, back down through this treacherous terrain to base camp. The child received intravenous fluids and antibiotics throughout the night. By morning she was in her dad’s arms, alert and improved—a life saved thanks to the heroic efforts of this nurse and the medical care made available by NWMTI.
I feel very fortunate to have partaken in these experiences and to have a skill that can help so many people. It gives a richness to my life that I might not otherwise appreciate, given the wealth of the country I live in. I hope to continue this work for a very long time.
