ACTION 2011 INDONESIA
The Asian Collaborative Training on Infectious Diseases, Outbreaks, Natural Disasters and Refugee Management (ACTION) is aimed at providing healthcare students from Asia-Pacific most of the essential knowledge and skills required to prevent, cure or relieve, and rehabilitate victims of infectious diseases and natural disasters. During this training, participants acquire the basic skills and knowledge through the lectures, small working groups, plenary, and field trips.?Students around the world also benefit from the outcome of the training as all follow-up activities are disseminated through the IFMSA’s global networks.
This year, ACTION was held in Malang from the 15th of August until the 21st of August 2011 and was hosted by the Medical Students’ Committee for International Affairs (MSCIA) UB. It was a great privilege for MSCIA to host such a big trans-national IFMSA event and to present University of Brawijaya, especially our Faculty of Medicine at the international level. This year’s theme was “The New Wave in Disaster Medicine for the Management of Earthquake.” There were 8 participating countries, which were Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, with a total of 30 participants. During ACTION 2011, there were a total of 6 speakers and 1 Emergency Team who gave lectures and trainings to the participants. On the first day, the participants arrived at the venue (Royal Orchids Hotel), registered themselves at the registration desk and settled in their rooms. At 7 pm, we had dinner followed by the Welcoming Party as well as the Opening Ceremony at Taman Indie Restaurant. Rifqi and Ode were the Masters of Ceremony for that evening. There were 5 speakers who gave their speeches, in order they were Dian O.G. (Local Organizing Committee Chair), Misa Hyakutake from Japan (International Organizing Committee Chair), Theodorus U. R. D. (President of MSCIA), Niko Kristianto (President of CIMSA) and Dr. dr. Sri Andarini, MKes (1st Vice Dean of Fac. Of Med. UB) who had the honours to open ACTION 2011. There were traditional dance performances as well as acoustic home-band who gave the night a very welcoming atmosphere.
On the second day, there were 3 lectures given. The first lecture was given by Alfrina Hany, S.Kp., MN (PSIK-FKUB) about the “Introduction to the Management of Disaster caused by Earthquake in General”, who also lead the discussion afterwards. Before the discussion though, each country had to present a Power Point presentation about their country and the natural disasters in their country. The second lecture was about “Template for Preparing Emergency Medicine Assistance: Lessons Learnt from Several Natural Disaster in Indonesia” by dr. Ali Haedar, Sp.EM. (Emergency Department RSSA-FKUB). He lightened up the room and brought a fun and energetic ambience in his lecture. The last lecture for that day was given by dr. Tri Wahyu Murni – a national speaker (FK-UNPAD). Her topic was about the “Millennium Development Goals point 7”. On day three, all the lectures were given by an international speaker from Malaysia, dr. Alzamani Mohammad Idrose. His topics were: “Camp Management” and “Medical Mistakes during Disaster”. During his lecture, he also talked about his experience in Iran. He was not only an emergency physician, he was also a poet. Dr. Alzamani read two of his great poems which had written whilst in Iran, in front of the participants of ACTION 2011. It was a such a priceless moment. In the afternoon, everyone went to Secret Zoo for the social program. And in the evening, we had an Indonesian Independence Day celebration. Every participant along with dr. Alzamani played traditional Indonesian games and competed against each other. It was a spectacular night, which ended with a beautiful fireworks display.
Day four and five was full of training course provided by the Emergency Team of Saiful Anwar General Hospital. The course was about Basic Life Support. After the course there were Theoretical and Practical Examinations, and fortunately every participant successfully passed and received an international BLS certificate. In the afternoon of day five, there was one lecture by Prof. Dr. dr. Aryono Djuned Pusponegoro, Sp.B.-KBD., another national speaker (FKUI), who delivered a lecture about “What to do as Medical Students Before, During, and After an Earthquake”. It was quite a profound lecture.??On day six, participants were divided into a couple of groups and were asked to make a project based on what they have learnt from all the lectures given during ACTION 2011. The project was a draft of what they must do when they return back to their own countries. Also during the whole week, participants were divided into groups and were asked to make a poster in their spare time. And on that sixth day, a poster competition was held. There were 3 adjudicators, all from our faculty, they were Dr. dr. Retty Ratnawati, M.Sc., dr. Obed T.K.P., and dr. Dian. Each group presented their posters in front of the adjudicators. Even though the adjudicators gave quite a lot of critiques to a couple of groups, but overall they were very impressed and thus giving a lot of compliments to each group. After the competition, there was one more lecture by dr. Bastaman – a national speaker (IDI), who delivered a lecture about “Infection Control and Prevention after Earthquake”.
Finally, in the evening there was a Farewell Party and Closing Ceremony. Every participant had to wear their traditional clothing. It was a very cultural night, because each country not only wore their traditional clothing, but also performed a special traditional performance, such as playing a traditional instrument, dancing a traditional dance, and also singing their national anthem. Participants were very happy and really enjoyed the night.??By midnight, everyone already had their gear and luggage all packed up, and we all took off to catch the sunrise at Bromo Mountain. After a couple of hours on the road we reached Bromo and waited for the sun to appear behind the horizon. Even though the air was quite chilly for some participants, it didn’t stop them from waiting. Finally, when time arrived, everyone was delighted and amazed by the beauty of the Bromo sunrise. The air turned from chill to warm as the sun rose higher and higher. The Bromo trip was the last trip for the ACTION participants, and after seeing the sunrise, the participants were taken to Utami Hotel at Surabaya, which marked the end of the journey of ACTION 2011. Every participant seemed very pleased and happy, but for some it was quite sad because they had to leave Indonesia.
So that was a short summary of ACTION 2011 Indonesia. ACTION 2012 will be held in Taiwan and we hope for the best for the next ACTION!?Once again, it was a great experience for MSCIA to organize an international event. On behalf of MSCIA, I would like to thank every party who had supported ACTION 2011, and a big thanks to the Faculty of Medicine, University of Brawijaya.