KOTA KINABALU: Gempa bumi berukuran enam pada skala Richter melanda Gunung Kinabalu pada 5 Jun 2015, menyedarkan Dr Mexmollen Marcus mengenai kelemahan ketara dalam pengurusan tindak balas terhadap bencana berkenaan.

Mengimbau pengalamannya sebagai doktor muda yang bertugas atas panggilan (on-call) dan terkandas di Panalaban selama tiga hari susulan gempa bumi itu, beliau berkata operasi menyelamat terjejas teruk akibat cuaca buruk dan ketiadaan latihan bencana bersama sebelum ini.

"Saya melihat helikopter datang untuk menyelamatkan kami, setiap kali ia terbang melintasi kawasan itu tetapi ia tidak dapat mendarat disebabkan cuaca buruk.

"Saya melakukan apa yang saya tahu perlu dilakukan, iaitu merawat orang sakit. Angkatan tentera melakukan tugas mereka, yang berkemungkinan untuk mengawal situasi.

"Polis melakukan tugas mereka sendiri, pihak bomba juga melakukan tugas mereka sendiri. Jadi, pada akhirnya tindakan kami menjadi sangat tidak sehaluan," katanya.

Jelas beliau, malim gunung, yang sangat arif dengan selok-belok bentuk muka bumi di situ, menjadi petugas barisan hadapan yang sangat penting dengan mengandar pendaki yang cedera turun dari gunung dan mencari mangsa yang hilang.

"Ini kerana mereka mengenali setiap permatang dan lurah memandangkan mereka melalui laluan yang sama di gunung itu untuk menyara hidup," katanya, sambil menambah bahawa 18 orang, termasuk pelajar terkorban dalam kes itu.

Dr Mexmollen menyampaikan ucapan perasmiannya di Simposium Pacific Partnership 2026 (PP26): Menjalin Kerjasama dan Memajukan Kesihatan: Perspektif Global di INTAN Sabah di sini, semalam.

Timbalan Dekan Fakulti Perubatan Universiti Malaysia Sabah itu menambah bahawa komunikasi dan perkongsian maklumat yang lemah, kekurangan kepercayaan, peranan yang tidak jelas, serta tadbir urus yang berpecah-belah adalah antara kelemahan yang sering berulang dalam tindak balas bencana.

Bagaimanapun, beliau menyatakan penyelesaian paling penting adalah dengan membina kepercayaan antara agensi semasa waktu aman, berbanding hanya cuba menjalinkan hubungan kerja apabila krisis sudah berlaku.

"Kepercayaan adalah prasyarat, bukannya hasil akhir. Ia tidak dibina ketika krisis sudah melanda.

"Kepercayaan dibina di sini, di tempat di mana kita boleh duduk dan berbincang antara satu sama lain dengan jelas dalam keadaan aman," katanya.

Beliau turut menggesa komuniti diletakkan sebagai teras dalam kesiapsiagaan bencana, dengan menyatakan bahawa penduduk tempatan sering menjadi petugas barisan hadapan yang semula jadi dan pengetahuan tradisional mereka harus disepadukan ke dalam sistem amaran awal.

Melangkah ke hadapan, beliau berkata Malaysia mesti memperkukuh kaitan antara keselamatan kesihatan dan tadbir urus bencana, terutamanya memandangkan kecemasan pada masa hadapan mungkin membabitkan pelbagai bahaya yang berlaku secara serentak.

"Bahaya biologi yang seterusnya berkemungkinan besar akan menjangkiti manusia daripada haiwan lama sebelum ia benar-benar sampai ke hospital kita," katanya.

Tambah beliau, penekanan harus diberikan kepada pendekatan One Health yang membabitkan pelbagai disiplin untuk menangani penyakit zoonotik.

MIRI, Sept 9 — A pilot and four Ministry of Health (MOH) personnel were confirmed dead after the Flying Doctor Service (FDS) helicopter they were travelling in crashed near the Long Lellang Short Take-Off and Landing Airport (STOLport) yesterday afternoon. 

Miri Division resident and chairman of the Miri Division Disaster Management Committee, Galong Luang, confirmed that all five people on board the helicopter died in the crash, which occurred at about 3.40 pm. 

“This is based on reports from the Fire and Rescue Department and the Ministry of Health,” he said when contacted. 

However, Galong was unable to provide further details about the incident or the identities of the victims. 

Earlier, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad said the helicopter departed from Miri, and besides the pilot, those onboard were a medical officer, an assistant medical officer and two nurses, all of whom were on official duty. — Bernama

KUCHING, Sept 9 —The Flying Doctor Service (FDS) team involved in the helicopter crash near Long Lellang this afternoon is one of the active teams providing healthcare services to residents in remote areas of Sarawak.

According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), the FDS was introduced in Sarawak in 1973 and plays a vital role in delivering healthcare services to communities in hard-to-reach areas.

Through regular visits, the service provides medicines and vaccines, as well as medical evacuation missions for critically ill patients.

KOTA BHARU, Sept 9 — The father of one of the victims of the helicopter crash in Sarawak, Kamarudin Salleh, said he last met his daughter, Dr Ainul Baroah, when she came home for the school holidays before returning to Sarawak on Sunday.

“She was her usual self, always smiling and not saying much. She spend time with her nieces and nephews and the family,” he told reporters at his home in Kampung Baung, Pengkalan Chepa, here last night. 

Kamarudin said he received news of the incident at 5 pm yesterday from one of his daughter’s parents-in-law.

He said the family had yet to receive confirmation of Dr Ainul Baroah’s condition at the time, before his son-in-law contacted him to confirm his daughter’s passing.

“My daughter worked at Miri Hospital and had been serving in Sarawak for almost two years. Before that, she worked for about two years in Tanah Merah,” said the retired teacher.

Kamaruddin said his daughter’s responsibilities included monitoring patients in several areas, including Baram, which required her to travel by helicopter about once a week.

Meanwhile, Dr Ainul Baroah’s mother, retired teacher Rogayah Mohd Noor, 69, described her daughter as kind and said she had never caused problems for the family since she was a child.

“She was a good daughter. When she came home recently, we noticed that she seemed different from usual. Her face appeared radiant, and there was something different about her,” she added.

Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) confirmed in a statement that the BO-105 helicopter, which was carrying five people, including the pilot, and operating a Flying Doctor Service flight, crashed near the Long Lellang Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) airport, about 929 kilometres north of Kuching.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the helicopter, which departed from Miri, was operated by a pilot and carried a medical officer, an assistant medical officer, and two nurses on official duty.

Meanwhile, Miri Division Resident and chairman of the Miri Division Disaster Management Committee Galong Luang confirmed that all those on board were killed in the incident, which occurred at about 3.40 pm. — Bernama