BALI UPDATE #321 - 11 November 2002

Everyday Heroes of October 12th: BIMC

The Events of October 12th at the Bali International Medical Centre.

The Bali International Medical Centre (BIMC), provides primary health care services for tourists, travelers, and Bali residents and has earned itself a well-deserved reputation for "doing things right" in placing patient care before all other considerations. Modern, clean, and well-equipped treatment rooms, 4 fully equipped ambulances, and a medical staff that undergoes continuous training upgrading - are part of what makes BIMC different.

Fortunately, for those who sought primary care in the aftermath of the terrorist attack of October 12th, the professional teamwork of the BIMC staffers may have made all the difference.

balidiscovery.com retells the events as they unfolded on that fateful night. This is a story of uncommon valor in the face of unthinkable human suffering.

Some readers may find the graphic nature of this report upsetting. Reader's discretion is therefore advised.

The doctor is In

It began like most Saturday nights. The night shift of nurses, drivers, and doctors were settling in, expecting another routine weekend evening characterized by the intermittent visit of party-makers suffering from the ill-effects of too much alcohol, the occasional motorcycle mishap, and the odd case of Bali Belly. With a modicum of luck the call for their services would be few and nicely spread over the course of the night, permitting ample time for each patient work-up and treatment.

Tragically, however, the coming hours unfolded in ways that no could have ever imagined and in ways certainly no member of the BIMC team will ever forget.

11:20pm - Saturday, October 12, 2002

At 11:20pm, just moments after a loud explosion was heard across the entire southern part of the island, the BIMC receptionist received an incoming call from one of their staff doctors who had been driving down the street where the bomb had just exploded. Immediately on the scene, she called the clinic telling the medical team to stand by - she was enroute with three seriously injured victims and more cases were certain to follow.

In keeping with the Clinic's disaster plan - a Red Alert was now in effect. Calls were made to all staff doctors, paramedics, nurses, and drivers ordering them back to the clinic located less than 2 kilometers from ground zero.

11:45pm – Saturday, October 12, 2002

Responding to the Alert, Steph, BIMC's New Zealand nurse, arrived at the Clinic to survey a scene of unimaginable havoc. She joined a team of 10 doctors and 15 nurses who managed to gather at the clinic within 25 minutes after the blast.

As they rushed through the front doors they were greeted by the sight of casualties. Bodies completely filled the Clinic, laying on any available piece of open floor. Their numbers were such that simple movement by the medical staff among the injured was difficult.

Newly arrived in Bali was emergency care specialist Dr. Art Sorrell of the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, on a one month teaching stint at the BIMC. His assignment, part of an ongoing program of critical care training provided to the Clinic by the world's recognized leaders in trauma care.

Did the worst night in Dr. Sorrel's distinguished career at the UCLA prepare him for the scene he now surveyed? Patients suffering massive trauma, severe burns, some with missing limbs. Sobs and screams of pain filled the rooms and corridors, as did the unforgettable smell of burning flesh.

Phase One - Triage

Dr. Sorrell and Sister Steph took the lead role and triaged the patients. Followed in close step by members of the medical team, they threaded a path through the maze of bodies. The most critically injured already had IV lines started. Depending on their individual condition, secondary IV's of Morphine, Pethadine, antibiotics and saline solution were administered.

Phase Two - Primary Survey

As Dr. Art and Sister Steph commenced their second sweep through the battlefield scene they clutched forms and papers as they began full primary surveys of the injured. Clothing was unceremoniously cut off the patients; notation for those who could communicate or had identification were made recording name, age, country, extent of injuries, and listing any medications already administered.

Three of the victims had stopped breathing, their vital signs returned through quick resuscitative work by the Clinic's staff. Similarly, patients with severe burns to the face and neck area were put under close observation, anticipating the potential need for emergency intubations and ventilation.

Once the most critically injured and severest burn cases were sufficiently stabilized, David, the BIMC's paramedic, coordinated the dispatch of ambulances ferrying patients for delivery to the operating theatres of local hospitals.

The estimates of the burns suffered by the patients and treated at BIMC ran between 30 to 90% of total skin area.

Patients continued to come through the door in a steady stream throughout the night and early morning hours. In all, over 70 patients were treated by the Centre with the less severely injured and walking-wounded dispatched across the street to the nearby SOS Clinic, who called to volunteer their underutilized patient capacity.

Many of the injuries were appalling. One patient, an Australian man arrived with his legs missing and a metal bar protruding from his chest. His injuries so severe that he died a short time later in an ambulance while being transported to a local Hospital.

Outside the Clinic, nearly 1,000 people had gathered. Welcomed volunteers stepped forward offering to help the medical team deal deteriorating sanitary situation resulting from dealing with so much carnage in a single evening.

Phase Three - Sunday Morning, October 13, 2002

Seven hours after the start of the crisis, the most critically injured patients had been stabilized and assigned to the care of the Sanglah General Hospital and other hospitals. The new day, however, brought a new stream of patients, initially treated at area hospitals and clinics and now seeking continuing care from the BIMC. These cases included minor burns, shrapnel wounds, perforated eardrums, and the shell shocked and traumatized.

A much needed re-supply of emergency drugs from the BIMC's Australia supplier arrived, courtesy of Garuda Indonesia. These drugs, particularly supplies of Morphine and Pethadrine, were desperately needed by local hospitals. BIMC shared its precious supplies of drugs and dressing with any local hospital who requested them. Likewise, their doctors and nurses were dispatched to local hospitals, including Dr. Sorrel who worked a non-stop 3-day stint at the Sanglah General Hospital's Intensive Care Unit.

Post Traumatic Stress

The days following the tragedy saw the BIMC turn its attention to its own staff and those members of the community who responded to the tragedy. Tearful and traumatized doctors, nurses, cleaners, guards, and receptionists - all underwent a series of counseling sessions provided over a two-week period after the attack. Professional trauma counselors, provided by the Australian Government, are available to any member of the local community who feels he or she needs their assistance in coming to terms with the tragedy.

Epilogue

The folks at BIMC, heroes in any sense of the word, are typical of countless others local resident who personally prevailed amidst the destruction of October 12.

Surrounded by so many heroes, we are unable to find a better way to refer to these people – than in the way we always have - as our "neighbors".

This was an island united. This was Bali at its best.

Bali Security Update: Bombing Plus 30 Days

balidiscovery.com Round Up On Island Security 30 days After the Attack.

The Investigation

(11 November 2002) Bali's Police Chief, Brigadier General Budi Setyawan, working against a self-imposed 30-day deadline, has managed in the last week to make promised arrests in the terrorist attack on a Kuta nightspot that claimed some 184 lives on October 12^th. Despite having falsified ownership records and removing serial numbers, the owner of the L-300 Mitsubishi van used to carry the explosives was eventually traced to a 30-year-old East Java man, Amrozi, who, when apprehended and questioned by police, has admitted his role in purchasing the explosives and helping to plan the attack.

Information provided by Amrozi has lead police to a local residence in Denpasar, where the bomb was constructed and where residue traces of the explosive materials have been discovered by forensic investigators. Amrozi has also provided leads for at least 10 other suspects sought by police and implicated himself as having played a role in the 2000 bombing of The Jakarta Stock Exchange and several other bombings across the Country.

In related developments, Police and Indonesian Defense Department officials have confirmed a link between the suspect and the outlawed Jemaah Islamiyah organization. Moreover, CNN reports that websites operated by the Al Qaeda organization have now claimed responsibility for the blast.

Investigators are terming the arrest of Amrozi as key to their investigative efforts and expect to make more arrests in the coming days.

Heightened Security on the Island

In the weeks following the bombing, police and defense authorities on Bali launched a campaign under the title of "Bali Tegar Agung." This program provides for concrete safety measures to protect visitors to the island and includes enhanced security standards at all vital public utilities, airports, sea ports, foreign legations, places of worship, hotels, and public tourist attractions.

Meanwhile, the Casa Grande - an association of 46 four and five star hotels in Bali, have undertaken close coordination with both the local police and their respective member's in-house security staffs to upgrade already high standards of security in the wake of the attack. Additional plain clothes and uniformed security staff are in place at all hotel properties with strict inspection and surveillance of all vehicular traffic and luggage entering the hotel premises now in effect.

A Week of Solemn Ceremonies

Daily ceremonies of prayer and preparation are planned leading up to the ritual cleansing ceremony scheduled for Friday, November 15, 2002. These include the taking of holy waters from each of Bali's sacred sources and all night vigils at temples near the scene of the outrage and other nearby temples. The final ceremony will be held on Friday starting at 10.00 a.m. near the bomb site.

All are welcome, traditional Balinese dress is suggested.

Business as Normal

Although visitors to the island are markedly decreased, tourism businesses continue to operate normally across the island. In the presence of the dramatically heightened security on all fronts in Bali, the island is arguably safer than ever before with authorities demonstrating heightened vigilance and little patience with even the actions of petty criminals.

Wayan Krupuk's 2003 Agenda

In Limited Quantity - A Non-Main-Stream Agenda for What Promises to be a Most Interesting Year Ahead.

Wayan Krupuk's Bali 2003 Agenda is a 7 x 9 inches bound agenda presented in a cow-friendly, high-quality imitation leather cover.

Fortunately, all the days of 2003 are there - we counted all 365 of them. There's even place to jot down numbers, addresses, appointments, and alimony due dates. But, perhaps the true value of this very non-mainstream agenda lies in its faded photogenic glory.

Not Word Salad. Just A Table of Contents.

Ubud maps. Doctors and dentists. Chinese restaurants, flower shops, and auspicious day to cut your hair. The Princes from the old Kingdoms and the ferry schedules to Gili Nanggu. Where to eat in Klungkung. The legends and histories of this magical isle including poems, stories, and proverbs. The gallery of the gurus, gamelan masters, and puppeteers. Kampong queens with secret recipe's for Nasi bubur. A 20-page phone book conveniently arranged by international jet-set cities. The global pop culture - from movie stars to sporting heroes, from fashion victims to trance dancers. Offerings of frangipani and clove. Roadways choked and fuming. Lyric poetry and song. Photographs from rice fields to warungs. The night you danced with the Ogoh Ogohs. Plastic streamers glinting in the sun, kites that Whrrrrr in the sky. The airlines, the clubs, the restaurants and the bars. The holidays and the festivals. Archival photos from the expat community-before there were real estate brokers. The tidal charts, the surfers, the painters and the guitar players.

Confused? Probably. Entertaining? Undoubtedly. Think of it as Bali's answer to the Farmer's Almanac.

Only Rp. 250,000 Per Copy.

balidiscovery.com has a limited quantity of Wayan Krupuk humorous, poignant, irreverent and achingly beautiful interpretation of Bali in the form of a 2003 agenda. A work 30 years in the making and available for only Rp. 250,000 a copy. The perfect Christmas gift, a record of your year to come or merely a place to write it all down while on the way to making some of your own history.

More information: Order the Wayan Krupuk 2003 Agenda

A Scrap Book Comes of Age

Made Wijaya Launches His Latest Book: Architecture of Bali.

I still remember purchasing Mades Wijaya's 1983 book, Balinese Architecture: Towards an Encyclopedia. The book was comprised of large photocopied sheets containing sketches, typed fonts, and scrawled notes by its author bound in a big, black, hand-made hard cover. The pictures illustrating the book were either black and white photocopies or the occasional actual color photo, printed at the corner shop, and then glued inside the book. This undeniably interesting tome was a photo album cum scratch book that managed to give new meaning to a "work in progress."

Thusly, 20 years in the making and just published by Editions Didier Millet, as Balinese Architecture: A Source Books or Traditional and Modern Forms, Made Wijaya's latest book is destined to become the definitive compendium on Balinese building design.

With over 360 illustrations, the book offers the authoritative view of the design protocols of a traditional Balinese village, the buildings process, the layout of a Balinese community compound, and the range of materials used. It also offers a fairly exhaustive review of ornamentation, both the "real thing" and the "Baliwannabee-ism" that pervades in so many local hotels and resorts.

Made Wijaya

Made Wijaya, also known as Michael White, literally first floated ashore in Bali 1973 after jumping overboard from a passing yacht. In the intervening 30 years, he has championed Balinese garden and architectural designs, both in Bali and in various projects around the globe. When he's not designing a house or garden for a member of the glitterati, he's busy chronicling the cultural life of the island in Poleng - his private circulation arts magazine or at his website Stranger in Paradise.

Cursing Darkness, Lighting Candles

7,000 Flock to Bali Memorial Concert.

High atop Bali's Bukit Jimbaran, in the dramatic setting of the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park, an evening of emotive music and song was presented in memory of the victims of the October 12^th Kuta-Legian terrorist attack. The 70-piece Twilite Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Addie M.S., presented a program of choral, serious, and popular music, which was televised nationally on the SCTV network.

In an evening punctuated by brief interludes of inspirational spoken word, the program opened with the Indonesian National Anthem, Indonesia Raya, followed by Australia's "Advance Australian Fair".

Indonesian male pop-star, Rio Febrian, provided a moving rendition of the traditional "Amazing Grace", returning later in the evening to contribute a very well-received rendition of John Lennon's – "Imagine".

Edward Elgar's – "Nimrod" allowed the Twilite Orchestra a chance to demonstrate its high level of technical proficiency, a fact further underlined later with John William's – "Hymn to the Fallen" and the Indonesian patriotic "Tanah Tumpah Darahku", both admirably performed with the backing of Bali's talented Udayana University Choir.

Indonesian pubescent singing sensation, Sherina, a solo-headliner in Jakarta, managed to charm the audience with the well-known song in praise of the Motherland - "Ibu Pertiwi". Later, she reappeared on the stage for a less successful effort when she was miscast, both in terms of repertoire and vocal prowess, in a duet with the fine Indonesian tenor Christopher Abimayu. Together, singing David Foster's emotionally moving "The Prayer", the powerful tenor generously restrained his considerable gifts, finding himself short-handed in delivering a song written for two serious voices.

Soprano Linda Sitinjak, backed by the choir, beautifully delivered Rodgers and Hammerstein's – "You'll Never Walk Alone" with Christopher Abimayu and the choir providing a poignant end to the broadcast singing Barry Manilow's – "One Voice", as the 7,000 attendees held lit candle aloft as a sign of solidarity in the face of the unspeakable evil of only 3 weeks before.

The successful concert, put together in less than 10 days and performed in a the dramatic open air setting of the chalk canyons at the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park, was sponsored by the Association of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) and Sampoerna cigarettes in cooperation with the United Care for Bali group.

A New Hospital for Bali?

Minister Sukardi on Rebuilding Bali.

The Minister for State-Owned Enterprises, Laksamana Sukardi, has announced a number of steps planned by the Government of Indonesia as part of their response to the tragic terrorist attack of October 12^th.

Speaking at the Bali Memorial Concert held on Monday, October 4, 2002, at the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park, Minister Sukardi announced that the government, in cooperation with foreign partners, would soon build an international standard hospital in Bali.

He also announced that the Government would sponsor a festival of Balinese music and art during the Christmas and New Year's period to help stimulate additional visitors to the island.

London has a Bali Village

65 Local Tourism Professionals London Bound.

A group of 65 representatives of hotels and travel companies from Bali Village will be in London November 11-14, 2002, to attend the World Travel Mart 2002 (WTM) and delivering the message that "Bali is Still Everybody's Home."

Bali Village is a 200-strong non-profit association of Bali-based tourism companies who combine forces for the promotion of the island's tourism.

What is perhaps most heartening about the London visit, however, is the way the world is pledging support for Bali in the wake of the murderous attack on a Bali night spot on the evening of October 12^th, which claimed more than 180 innocent lives. Acknowledging that Bali was an equal victim in that attack, governments, travel organizations, and travel companies are working with the Balinese to help re-launch the island's tourism product in the shortest possible time.

At WTM the organizers of the event, Reed Travel Exhibitions, are providing free Bali banners at the entrance of the venue as well as offering generous discounts to Bali-based exhibitors. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom's Chapter of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) are sponsoring a cocktail reception in support of the Bali delegation. Travel Weekly, a leading Australian travel-trade periodical, will sponsor a special roundtable luncheon discussion in which 20 leading travel industry executives will be invited to meet with Bali Village officials on November 11^th.

The Bali Village delegation have also received support from Garuda Indonesia in the form of airline discounts for their travel to London and from the Indonesian Department of Finance, who have waived the standard Rp. 1 million departure tax paid by citizens and residents of Indonesia every time they travel overseas.

"We bring the pronouncement, of two and a half million Balinese who are dependent on tourism of their daily lives, for the world to hear: 'Bali is still everybody’s home,' and we need the help of our international friends to reinstate trust in travel," said Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya, the Chairman of Bali Village, who will also be attending the WTM.

Quote of the Week

Mr. Theo F. Toemion, Chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board.

"Corrupt judges and tax officers who harass investors are just as dangerous as terrorists."

Mr. Theo F. Toemion, Chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), addressing Commission V of the Indonesian Parliament on the reasons for the decrease in capital investment activity.

Yield the World to Terrorists?

U.S. Diver and Ecologist, Duane Silverstein, Discovers a Most Peaceful Island in the Days Immediately Following the Terror Attack.

Duane Silverstein, the Executive Director of a U.S. foundation Seacology, arrived with a group in Bali on the evening of the October 12^th bombing. Duane kindly shares his perceptions of Bali and its people during his visit with balidiscovery.com:

DIVE BALI

As I rode my bicycle past yet another beautiful village, the schoolchildren would line up on the side of the streets to give me 'high fives.' The sounds of their laughter echoed in my ear as I rode by. A little further down the road, a sculptor working on his latest creation invited me and my fellow travelers into his house to see his sculptures and his family pets. Where was I? A small town in Iowa? A quiet village in France? No, was in Bali, Indonesia a few days after the terrorist bombing killed almost 200 people.

Perhaps you might have been less surprised if you knew the sculpture was of the Hindu God, Ganesh, and the family pets were fruit bats and porcupines. However, given the constant U.S. media bombardment about how dangerous Bali is, one might have sooner expected a description more closely resembling Normandy beach after D-Day.

As executive director of Seacology - a Berkeley based non-profit organization whose sole focus is preserving the environments and cultures of islands throughout the world - I was in Indonesia with a delegation of board members to visit five of our projects. We arrived in Bali on the night of October 12. The bomb was detonated a few hours after our arrival in a location less than 10 miles from our hotel. The next morning we were scheduled to visit the Tirtaganga Water Palace where Seacology has installed a wastewater garden - an affordable low-tech way of utilizing plant filtration to treat sewage. Our three-hour ride was to take us through the remote countryside of Bali. I convened the group to see if we should go ahead with the visit and to my pleasant surprise the vote was unanimous in favor of proceeding.

As most other tourists were frantically waiting on long lines at the airport to get out on the next flight, we were traveling through the heart of Bali; a more peaceful scene would be hard to imagine. While our family in the U.S. was hearing one news report after another that Bali is unsafe and tourists should go home immediately, we were greeted warmly by the village children with a traditional legong dance and hosted for lunch by a son of one of the former kings of Bali.

The next day we boarded the Komodo Dancer - Peter Hughes Diving's new live aboard which dives the reefs around Komodo Island, Indonesia. Both the boat and the diving were world class. The diversity of marine life was amazing and we dived with creatures ranging in size from pygmy seahorses to manta rays. The purpose of this part of the trip was to visit another Seacology project to help The Nature Conservancy preserve the threatened coral reefs of the region.

When we arrived at our project site in the middle of the ocean there were a dozen fishing boats greeting us. The head fisherman, Abdul Assiz, invited us to visit his home village and we gladly accepted. Three days after the terrorist bomb in Bali we were guests at a remote Muslim fishing village and were made to feel at home in every way.

When we returned from our village visit there were messages via the Komodo Dancer's satellite phone for every member of our group. All of our families wanted us to come home immediately as they had seen many reports that Indonesia was unsafe. This was very hard for us to reconcile with our visit to the Muslim fishing village where the biggest risk was getting scratched by one family's pet turtle.

We then returned to Ubud, the cultural center of Bali, to visit other Seacology projects. Having visited this area previously, we were not surprised to find some of the world's friendliest people. Unfortunately, the Balinese of Ubud were also very sad. Due to the bombing and the sensational media reporting, tourism was down over 90 percent. In the normally bustling town we were often the only people eating at a restaurant or shopping in a store. My favorite Ubud hotel had not a single guest.

Yet nothing else had changed. The beautiful terraced rice fields still surround the town, Balinese women would frequently parade by on their way to temple with offerings of fruit piled high on their heads, and the monkeys in the adjacent forest would still jump up and take bananas out of your hand. It would be hard to imagine a safer place to be - not just in Bali, not Just in Indonesia, but anywhere in the world. And yet we did not see a single other American tourist our last four days in Bali.

Since September 11, 2001 the world is a more dangerous place. But the danger of a terrorist attack or other violent crime is likely greater in the U.S. than in most of the world's nations.

Should travelers to Bali be concerned about their safety as a result of the October 12 bombing? Of course, but perhaps no more so than travelers to San Francisco should be concerned about their safety as a result of the September 11 attack upon the U.S.. After September 11^th Mayor Giuliani's message was "come to New York, we need your money." Why shouldn't the same message be heard about Bali after October 12?

The world is a wonderful place full of fascinating people interesting cultures and, in the case of Indonesia, great diving. If we all stay at home because of a few terrorist attacks we will miss out on some great experiences and world class diving. We will also have conceded victory and yielded the world to terrorists.

If you do not believe me, just ask the people of Bali, who have learned the hard way that a bombing and the ensuing media coverage sentenced an entire island to poverty.

Duane Silverstein is Executive Director of Seacology, www.seacology.org, a non-profit organization whose sole focus is preserving the environments and cultures of islands throughout the world.

ASEAN Picks Bali

Regional Leaders Rally Round Bali.

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), an organization comprised of 10 regional powers, has given a resounding vote of confidence for Bali and Indonesia in choosing Bali as the venue for their annual summit to be held October 7-8, 2003. The decision to choose Bali was taken at the grouping's annual summit recently concluded during the first week of November in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The unanimous decision taken by the leaders of ASEAN gave practical voice to calls issued during the summit for the governments of the developed world to lift the current plethora of travel bans urging their citizens to avoid traveling to Bali and Indonesia in the wake of the terrorist attack of a popular nightspot on October 12, 2002.

The leaders of the countries in the region, many of which have large tourism industries, are eager to persuade western nations that their beaches and resorts are safe for international holidaymakers. Viewing the tragic Bali attack which claimed over 180 people lives as an international terrorist attack, the ASEAN leaders expressed the view that it is unfair to single out either Bali or the region as being at higher risk than any other world destination.

The incoming Secretary General for the organization said that in choosing Bali, "we want to bring back the confidence to Bali. Then we bring back the signal that ASEAN governments are unified and we are together with Indonesia on this."

For Those Who Shared and Cared

Bali Prepares a Special Evening to Salute its Caregivers.

The Consular Corp of Bali comprised of all the foreign legations in Bali, the Casa Grande - an association of Bali hoteliers, and the Rotary Club of Nusa Dua have joined forces to organize a dinner evening of classical music to honor the caregivers from the October 12^th bombing tragedy in Kuta-Legian.

The doctors, nurses, medical staff, volunteers, and helpers who selflessly came to aid of the island's visitors and local residents killed and injured in the terrorist attack will be hosted to a special dinner on the one month anniversary of the outrage on Tuesday, November 12, 2002 at the Hotel Grand Hyatt ballroom.

Music for the evening will be provided by the Nusantara Symphony Orchestra performing a program of chamber music.

The dinner and music for the evening is presented with the compliments of the sponsors as their way of saluting those who dedicated themselve to community relief, turning Bali's darkest hours into its proudest through the heroic care and compassion they extended to the suffering.

Doors open at 7:00 p.m..

For more information send an e-mail or telephone Mr. Jan Zuercher, the Consul of Switzerland in Bali at telephone ++62-(0)361-751753 or facsimile ++62-(0)361-754457.

More information: Send an E-mail!