Earthquake, Tsunami, and Liquefaction in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia: How Far is Our Disaster Health Management Progress?

Abstract

Introduction:Located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia is prone to natural hazards, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and volcanic activity. Management in the health sector is a necessary foundation for dealing with a disaster. Management lessons and essential experiences identified from disasters are often forgotten. The faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing Universitas Gadjah Mada has been developing disaster health management since 2009 after Padang Earthquake, followed by Merapi Volcano Eruption (2009), Pidie Jaya Earthquake (2016), and Lombok Earthquake (2018). The latest series of earthquakes that struck Central Sulawesi has revealed management problems with respect to the communication process, the development of coordination, and information and data synchronization.Aim:To show the importance of effective management in a health cluster, including what went well, what went poorly, and what will happen from the acute phase until the transition phase.Methods:Disaster health management implementation was compared from Padang to the Central Sulawesi’ earthquake. Then health cluster management was compared in Lombok and Central Sulawesi. Indicators were coordination, communication, data information, and organization.Discussion:There has been good progress for disaster health management in Indonesia. The health cluster approach makes coordination, data collected, and communication much easier. However, it also needs to focus on disaster planning, training, or simulation for the district health office while enhancing district response capacity. Although the challenges have changed in the last few decades, additional research is planned to limit management difficulties in the health cluster.