We report on the experience of a 23-member Australian medical team in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, following the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. Arriving 13 days after the tsunami that devastated the city, killed 100,000 of its inhabitants and injured thousands more, we carried out 130 surgical procedures in austere conditions over a 12-day period. Most surgery was peripheral, principally for plastic surgical or orthopaedic procedures to lower limb injuries. Intravenous ketamine anaesthesia was the technique of choice, with good surgical conditions and few significant side-effects.
TaylorP.R.P., EmonsonD.L., SchlimmerJ.E.Operation Shaddock —the Australian Defence Force response to the tsunami disaster in Papua New Guinea.Med J Aust1998; 169: 602–606.
2.
HolianA.C., KeithP.P.Orthopaedic surgery after the Aitape tsunami.Med J Aust1998; 169: 606–609.
3.
BennettE.J.Anaesthesia in the Dili General Hospital, East Timor.Anaesth Intensive Care2001; 29: 530–534.
4.
DobsonM.B.Anaesthesia for difficult locations-developing countries and military conflicts. In: Prys-RobertsC., BrownBurnell RJr., eds International Practice of Anaesthesia. Vol 2 pp. 1–10.
5.
BoultonT.B.Anaesthesia and resuscitation in difficult en vironments. In: Langton HewerC. ed. Recent Advances in Anaesthesia and Analgesia.11th Ed.Churchill Livingstone, New York, 1972.
6.
MorganG.E., and MikhailM.S. (eds) Nonvolatile anesthetic agents.In: Clinical Anesthesiology.Appleton and Lange, Stamford Connecticut, U.S.A., 1999, pp. 141.
7.
RevesJ.G., GlassP.S.A., and LubarskyD.A.Nonbarbiturate Intravenous Anesthetics. In MillerR.D. (ed) Anesthesia Fourth Edition. Churchill Livingstone.New York, U.S.A., 1994, pp. 259–264.
8.
CuttingP.A., AghaR.Surgery in a Palestinian refugee camp.Injury1992; 23: 405–409.
9.
BullP.T., MerrillS.B., MoodyR.A.Anaesthesia during the Falklands campaign.Anaesthesia1983; 38: 770–775.
10.
PesonenP.Pulse oximetry during ketamine anaesthesia in war conditions.Can J Anaesth1991; 38: 592–594.
