Rumah Sakit Terapung Ksatria Airlangga is a lifesaving health initiative, delivering much needed medical attention and care to people living in some of the most remote locations in the world. It is a ‘floating’ mobile hospital, aboard a traditional Indonesian phinisi boat that travels all over Indonesia, to the outermost edges of the Indonesian border where it meets Australian waters. Stopping at islands throughout Indonesia, it provides medical care to marginalised communities and remote villages who otherwise wouldn’t have access to doctors and medicine.
The floating hospital has 13 crew members, which includes the medical team, trainee medical students and the boat crew, who are mostly from Surabaya, Bandung, Jogyakarta and Jakarta. Crew members are all volunteers who put their own lives on hold to come aboard, returning to their lives and livelihoods after their gruelling shift aboard the boat, when the next group of volunteers are ready to come aboard to relieve them.
The hospital crew work closely with government officials and the puskesmas to notify the community about the boat’s arrival, so that villagers can be ready to see the doctors and medical team when they arrive. The floating hospital set sail on its maiden voyage in October 2017, and since then has seen hundreds of thousands of patients, performed 1800 on-board surgeries, and delivered 17 healthy babies via caesarean section. The doctors frequently perform vital cataract surgery on patients who have sustained eye damage and injury due to outdoor work, such as within the traditional fishing industry. They also take care of dental health, general check-ups, tonsillectomies, minor surgeries, hernia operations, plus they can test for more serious conditions and act as transport should patients require urgent care or hospitalisation.
The day we met with the crew, they were heading to Rinca and Komodo to check on the small communities living on the islands amongst the famous dragons – a pretty spectacular workplace that few get to experience.
The work of the crew on the floating hospital is life-saving, and provides essential, primary care to isolated patients and villages without access to any other health care. They run on donations only that directly fund the medicines, equipment and patient care. As a charity, staffed with volunteers, and relying on donations to continue their good work, any and all donations are welcome.
Learn more by heading to:
KITABISAKOLASEINSTAGRAMFACEBOOK
Or donate directly to the Yayasan accounts:
Yayasan Ksatria Medika Airlangga
Bank CIMB Niaga
703849215300
Bank Mandiri
1420020177787
Bank BRI
041101000525306
Written by the team from The Travellist Indonesia (https://the-travellist.com/ and https://thetravellistindonesia.com/) on behalf of Love Komodo.