THE INDONESIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY History ansi Activities 1945-1977 INDONESIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY Headquarters JAKARTA THE INDONESIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY History and Activities 1945-1977 INDONESIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY Headquarters JAKARTA THE INDONESIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY HISTORY AND ACTIVITIES 1945-1977 CONTENTS s I. INTRODUCTION ...................................* 1 II. H I S T O R Y .................................. 2 III. 0 R G A N I Z A T I 0 J ...... .......•.......... 12 IV. ACTIVITIES : ' A. FIRST AID .................................... 18 ^ B. N U R S I N G ................................ 19 C. BLOODTRANS FUSION ................. -........ 21 D. DISASTER RELIEF . ............................. 24 V* DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PROGRAMM ................. 30 VI. THE ROLE IN INTERNAL CONFLICTS ................ 39 VII. THE JUNIOR RED CROSS ........................... 45 VIII. LOGISTICS ............................. 46 IX. PUBLIC RELATIONS ................................ 47 X. INTERNATIONAL RELATICMS ........................ 51 V XI. CONCLUSION ............................ 58 THE INDONESIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY HISTORY AND ACTIVITIES 1945-1977 I. INTRODUCTION The experiences of a Red Cross Society could be useful for other Societies of the same World-family, especially for new Red Cross Societies belonging to new independent States. The Indonesian Red Cross, belonging to one of the new Societies born after the Second World War, had to face many kinds of problems from the very beginning of its existence up to this moment; therefore we regard a description of its history and activities during about 30 years' of the existence as a duty to inform our public and our Sister so­ cieties about the objectivss., the problems, the merits and the failures as well as thf prospects of the Indonesian Red Cross Society. II. HISTORY 1 1 . H I S T O R Y -“■■■ ~ 1 On August, 17, 1945, the Indonesian people proclaims i their independence at a brief and simple ceremony in Jakarta; their spokesmen were two most prominent national leaders, SUKARNO and HATTA. On September, 17, 1945, just one month after the proclamation of independence the Indonesian Red Cross Society was founded after being prepared by an ad hoc *• • r> *; .* rt f i*T r ^ rf 'D r ^ ;• •*<*. / - •• v ' r‘- Committee of 5 appointed by the Minister of Health Dr. Boentaran Martoatmodjo. At that time the two national leaders were already elected as President and Vice-President of the Republic of Indonesia. The Vice President, Dr. .. S ■ ■ • n r- -1. '.1 Mohamad Hatta was then elected as the Chairman of the Indonesian Red Cross Society, where as the Executive Committee consisted of a number of prominent citizens, under the leadership of Dr. Boentaran Martoatmodjo who meanwhile , resigned as Minister of Health .to.dedicate his full attention ,Tto the Indonesian Red Qjrsss. , . 9 The first National Headquarter of INDONCROSS was located at the present Mojopahit Hotel, Jakarta. Immediately the Indonesian Red Cross was confronted with important problems. First of all displaced persons returning from places, where they have worked for the Japanese Army must be given the assistance they needed, food, clothing, lodging, and transport to their place of origin. Emergency Medical teams were mobilized from the hospitals and the medical School in Jakarta to give first aid to victims of many clashes between the Indonesian Security Units and Japanese troops or between Indonesian and Units of the Allied Forces, which had landed to disarm the Japanese troops and to take care of the prisoners of war. The Allied Forces consisted of the best troops under 9 *-*+- i-v Command, namely Indian crack troops from Birma. j ' ; , M 4 r X The good offices of the Indonesian Red Cross were used to find out all the places of detention of prisoners of war * and . • • • and civilian Dutch Nationals throughout Java. After this was done, RAPWI (relief action prisoners of war Indonesia' was assisted by the Indonesian Red Cross. Distribution of good, clothing, transportation to the big cities was done by the Indonesian Red Cross, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Allied Forces. By doing this task the Indonesian Red Cross had given proof of its ability and usefulness to the Allied Forces as well as the I.C.R.C. The foundation of the National Red Cross was immediately followed by the formation of chapters in all big cities as Surabaya, Semarang, Bandung, Medan, Palembang etc. all of them immediately involved in similar activities as the National Red Cross. A great deal of the members of the Red Cross were medical doctors as weljt as nurses, medical students and highschool-students. In the Headquarters of the Indonesian Red Cross in Jakarta, Dr. Boentaran was assisted by Dr. R, Mochtar as Secretary and Mr. Pelenkahu as Treasurer, while two troubleshooters has to be mentioned, namely Mr. Moerdono and Mr. A. Martam, who were responsible for the logistics and the care for warprisoners and civilian detainees. Mrs. Kusrin and Miss Sriati Sastroamidjojo were in charge of the catering-service. Dr. Satrio was responsible for the emergency brigade, consisting of first-aiders using all kinds of vehicles for transportation of wounded and sick; the members of this emergency brigade were mostly medical students and voluntary nurses and since they could speak English there was no trouble to cooperate with the Allied Forces. The brigade occupied one wing of the H.Q. and had a 24 hours duty, which was very much appreciated by the in­ habitants of Jakarta and surroundings. First-aid post in the city and outside the city were established to give immediate help. This pattern was generally .... generally applied in other big cities as Bandung and Surabaya. These activities were remarkable and drew the attention of the British Red Cross : this was clear when we unexpectedly were honoured by a visit of Lady Mount- batten, wife of the British Commander of the British Forces in Asia, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten. She came with Miss Vickers in the quality of member of the British Red Cross. For the Indonesian Red Cross such an event was very important. Unfortunately the arrival of the British Forces was followed by Dutch troops which were intended to ensure the comeback of the Dutch government as ruler in Indonesia, ignoring the proclamation of independence. The objective was to conquer the big cities and establish the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (N.I.C.A.). This was the beginning of a new period for the Indonesian people who did not wish to loose the once proclaimed independence and was prepared to defend the sovereignity of Indonesia at any cost. For the Indonesian Red Cross this meant a lot of work, which was manifest in Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang and Suraoaya. The military operations launched by the Dutch troops or combined British-Dutch units force the Indonesian Government to leave Jakarta and to choose a saver center ramely Yogyakarta; the Indonesian Red Cross tried to stay as long as possible in Jakarta, but yas also forced to move to Yogyakarta, leaving a represen­ tative who was in charge of liaison with the Allied Forces; Dr. Bahder Djohan, livinc near the General Hospital of Jakarta was appointed for this purpose. The Dutch started to establish a special division of the Dutch Red Cross for Indonesia, the N.JE.R.K-A- (Nederlandse Rode Kruis Afdeling Indonesia). The Indonesian Red Cross in BANDUNG. The main activities of the Indonesian Red Cross in Bandung • • • « 5 Bandung was in the Southern part of the city, since the Northern part was occupied by the British troops. Units of the Indonesian Red Cross in North Bandung had to evacuate supplies and equipment from the Pasteurs Institute and the Technical Institute to the Southern part of the city and afterwards to Central Java. In 1946 even South Bandung had to be left due to the intensive military opera­ tions against the defenders of the Republic. Bandung was left in a special way namely after burning the city : this event is historical and known as the "BANDUNG LAUTAN API" which means "Bandung, sea of fire". After leaving Bandung the Indonesian Red Cross joined the units in the other cities around Bandung, taking care of sick and wounded soldiers as well as civilian victims. In 1947 according to an agreement between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch the army had to leave the West-Java region and move to Central-Java; the Indonesian Red Cross p accordingly left Bandung except some units which remained in the cities. It is worth to note that many women were involved in those Red Cross activities, saving the men for fighting purposes. Among others were actively involved Miss Sunarti Gondokusumo (now Mrs. Nasution, wife of General Natution), Miss Artati Sudirdjo (now member of the Supreme Advisory Council), Miss Isbandiah (now Mrs. Satrio). The role of the Indonesian Red Cross in SURABAYA. Everybody knows the heroic battle of Surabaya, the city which took the challenge of the British combined i armed forces in answer of the appeal of General Mansergh, Commanding General of the British forces to surrender unconditionally. In spite of heavy bombardment from British battleships, strafing by fighterplanes the young fighters for freedom fought ... 6 fought enthusiastically with all means against the landing troops, consisting of crack-units of the Indian division. The Indonesian Red Cross led by dr. Suwandi and dr. Sutopo took care of all wounded and treated them in the general hospital; when the hospital was also in danger, the whole hospital and medical as well as nursing crew, moved to Malang, Mojokerto and other :iti«> outside Surabaya, Thousands of patients had be moved in the night by tral.,. The Indonesian Red Cross in SEMARANG. In Seioarsng there was a magnificent battle between the Indonesian fighters for freedom and the Japanese army, which refused to recognize Indonesian authority; the Indonesian Red Cross had a lot to do and nearly- all doctors and nurses joined the Red Cross to help the wounded, consisting mainly of students of highschools.