Online edition of Sunday Observer - Features: "by Dr. Wijaya Godakumbura, Consultant Surgeon and President of the Safe Bottle Lamp Foundation
While food, clothing and temporary group shelter were the immediate needs, the emphasis now is on providing individual houses to the affected families. Attention has to be paid to avoid burn injuries.
Much has been said on tsunami in the media ranging from the fury of the waves, loss of life and property, donations, warning systems, and lately on the thorny issue of 'buffer zones'.
Over 100,000 temporary and permanent houses are now coming up. In temporary houses, lighting would have to be with kerosene lamps. It would be so even in the permanent ones at least for several months, as people would go in to occupation before completion due to the present poor living conditions. In fact, moving into partially built houses is a tradition in our country, and accidental kerosene burn injuries are a common type of domestic injuries.
Kerosene burn injuries
These injuries that kill around 140 and maim thousands every year have been the concern of our small organisation for the past 13 years. In fact, despite their occurrence in many Asian and African countries - in some countries like Malawi and Mozambique, only 10 per cent of houses have electricity - we and the Paraffin Safety Association of South Africa are the only two organisations in the world doing any kerosene burn prevention work.
Unsafe kerosene lamps
Some people living in houses without electricity use safe kerosene lamps like chimney lamps, but many use cheap unsafe ones. Even in houses with electricity, these unsafe lamps are used in the kitchen to light the fire, and also when there are power failures.
Safe bottle lamps
There are two types, generally referred to as 'bottle lamps'. One is made at home using discarded vitamin bottles and the other is made using fused bulbs. They topple easily and as they have no screw - on wick carriers, the flammable oil and the wick are thrown out causing huge fires and serious burn injuries.
In houses with such lamps, a single moment of inattention is enough to cause them. Sometimes it is a cat that would topple a lamp and cause a catastrophe! Therefore, it is imperative to eliminate possible fire risks to the tsunami victims who have suffered enough already. These injuries cause pain lasting for weeks or months and severe disfigurement.
There could be blindness and inability to close the mouth as the lower lip is tethered to the neck. Some lose all fingers, and when that happens to a mason, plumber or a fisherman, the family is doomed.
The misery caused by bottle lamp burn injuries
When a person has a badly scarred face, he or she will lose the chance of marrying, and the family may break up if the person is already married. They become social outcasts, and they are a burden to the family, society and the State. As such, we have to see that the lamps the tsunami victims would use in their new houses would be safe.
Having survived an unpreventable nightmare connected with water, getting maimed or losing the life by a preventable fire accident would be extremely tragic and unthinkable. It would be a fall from the 'frying pan to the fire', or rather, from tsunami waves to the fire! It did happen though in Indonesia to an eight month-old child, as described in an article that appeared in The Sunday Times of Singapore recently, that is reproduced in part below with the publisher's kind permission.
Dr. Godakumbura is a member of the National Committee for the Prevention of Injuries. He is also the Sri Lankan Representative of the International Society for Burn Injuries as well as a member of its Prevention Committee.
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Excerpts taken from SPH - The Sunday Times
This 65-cent kerosene lamp can help save lives
by Sharlene Tan
Having survived the tsunami, eight-month-old Heru now struggles to overcome severe burns on his body. The tragedy is that a 65-cent kerosene lamp could have spared him the pain. Made in Sri Lanka, the lamp is a safer alternative to the one that toppled into Heru's crib, causing him to suffer 35 per cent burns.
But few seem aware of it. Now, it's quiet existence is set to change. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has been sending family kits to Lhokseumawe and Banda Aceh in Indonesia, has expressed interest in the lamps. Called a safe bottle lamp, it was invented by Sri Lankan surgeon Wijaya Godakumbura. It is short and heavy, with two flat sides and a screw-on metal lid.
The lamp does not topple easily and, even if it does, will not roll, and will not spill the kerosene inside. ICRC logistics coordinator Maik Schmidt, who is based here for a month to facilitate relief supplies to Aceh, told The Sunday Times that he sent information about the lamps to the Geneva office which will determine their viability. He came to know of if from the Singapore Red Cross Society, which had been informed by Professor Tommy Koh, Singapore's Ambassador-at large. Dr. Godakumbura had won a Rolex Award for Enterprise in 1998, which recognises innovative projects, Prof. Koh, who was a judge in the 1996 awards, had read of it in the Rolex - Journal.
Heru had been flown here from Meulaboh for treatment last month after an Australian aid worker found him in a hospital ward.
He was burnt when a sibling knocked over a kerosene lamp that set his cot on fire. With Dr. Godakumbura's lamp, the kerosene would not have spilled as its screw-on metal lid would have prevented it. The retired general surgeon was prompted to start the Safe Bottle Lamp project in 1992 by the appalling number of burn victims he treated.
In a phone interview, he said about 40 per cent of accidental burn injuries they are caused by unsafe lamps. Today, about 530,000 of his lamps have been distributed in Sri Lanka. But three million unsafe lamps are still being used. Dr. Godakumbura said: "I expected a lot of support after winning the award, but there has been little. I'm disappointed that I can't be of more use to the poor people, but we're doing good work and people are benefitting." Prof. Koh agrees.
He told The Sunday Times in an e-mail interview: "Most people, including those procuring supplies for the tsunami victims, are not aware that the conventional kerosene lamp is dangerous and that there is a better alternative."
While food, clothing and temporary group shelter were the immediate needs, the emphasis now is on providing individual houses to the affected families. Attention has to be paid to avoid burn injuries.
Much has been said on tsunami in the media ranging from the fury of the waves, loss of life and property, donations, warning systems, and lately on the thorny issue of 'buffer zones'.
Over 100,000 temporary and permanent houses are now coming up. In temporary houses, lighting would have to be with kerosene lamps. It would be so even in the permanent ones at least for several months, as people would go in to occupation before completion due to the present poor living conditions. In fact, moving into partially built houses is a tradition in our country, and accidental kerosene burn injuries are a common type of domestic injuries.
Kerosene burn injuries
These injuries that kill around 140 and maim thousands every year have been the concern of our small organisation for the past 13 years. In fact, despite their occurrence in many Asian and African countries - in some countries like Malawi and Mozambique, only 10 per cent of houses have electricity - we and the Paraffin Safety Association of South Africa are the only two organisations in the world doing any kerosene burn prevention work.
Unsafe kerosene lamps
Some people living in houses without electricity use safe kerosene lamps like chimney lamps, but many use cheap unsafe ones. Even in houses with electricity, these unsafe lamps are used in the kitchen to light the fire, and also when there are power failures.
Safe bottle lamps
There are two types, generally referred to as 'bottle lamps'. One is made at home using discarded vitamin bottles and the other is made using fused bulbs. They topple easily and as they have no screw - on wick carriers, the flammable oil and the wick are thrown out causing huge fires and serious burn injuries.
In houses with such lamps, a single moment of inattention is enough to cause them. Sometimes it is a cat that would topple a lamp and cause a catastrophe! Therefore, it is imperative to eliminate possible fire risks to the tsunami victims who have suffered enough already. These injuries cause pain lasting for weeks or months and severe disfigurement.
There could be blindness and inability to close the mouth as the lower lip is tethered to the neck. Some lose all fingers, and when that happens to a mason, plumber or a fisherman, the family is doomed.
The misery caused by bottle lamp burn injuries
When a person has a badly scarred face, he or she will lose the chance of marrying, and the family may break up if the person is already married. They become social outcasts, and they are a burden to the family, society and the State. As such, we have to see that the lamps the tsunami victims would use in their new houses would be safe.
Having survived an unpreventable nightmare connected with water, getting maimed or losing the life by a preventable fire accident would be extremely tragic and unthinkable. It would be a fall from the 'frying pan to the fire', or rather, from tsunami waves to the fire! It did happen though in Indonesia to an eight month-old child, as described in an article that appeared in The Sunday Times of Singapore recently, that is reproduced in part below with the publisher's kind permission.
Dr. Godakumbura is a member of the National Committee for the Prevention of Injuries. He is also the Sri Lankan Representative of the International Society for Burn Injuries as well as a member of its Prevention Committee.
****
Excerpts taken from SPH - The Sunday Times
This 65-cent kerosene lamp can help save lives
by Sharlene Tan
Having survived the tsunami, eight-month-old Heru now struggles to overcome severe burns on his body. The tragedy is that a 65-cent kerosene lamp could have spared him the pain. Made in Sri Lanka, the lamp is a safer alternative to the one that toppled into Heru's crib, causing him to suffer 35 per cent burns.
But few seem aware of it. Now, it's quiet existence is set to change. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has been sending family kits to Lhokseumawe and Banda Aceh in Indonesia, has expressed interest in the lamps. Called a safe bottle lamp, it was invented by Sri Lankan surgeon Wijaya Godakumbura. It is short and heavy, with two flat sides and a screw-on metal lid.
The lamp does not topple easily and, even if it does, will not roll, and will not spill the kerosene inside. ICRC logistics coordinator Maik Schmidt, who is based here for a month to facilitate relief supplies to Aceh, told The Sunday Times that he sent information about the lamps to the Geneva office which will determine their viability. He came to know of if from the Singapore Red Cross Society, which had been informed by Professor Tommy Koh, Singapore's Ambassador-at large. Dr. Godakumbura had won a Rolex Award for Enterprise in 1998, which recognises innovative projects, Prof. Koh, who was a judge in the 1996 awards, had read of it in the Rolex - Journal.
Heru had been flown here from Meulaboh for treatment last month after an Australian aid worker found him in a hospital ward.
He was burnt when a sibling knocked over a kerosene lamp that set his cot on fire. With Dr. Godakumbura's lamp, the kerosene would not have spilled as its screw-on metal lid would have prevented it. The retired general surgeon was prompted to start the Safe Bottle Lamp project in 1992 by the appalling number of burn victims he treated.
In a phone interview, he said about 40 per cent of accidental burn injuries they are caused by unsafe lamps. Today, about 530,000 of his lamps have been distributed in Sri Lanka. But three million unsafe lamps are still being used. Dr. Godakumbura said: "I expected a lot of support after winning the award, but there has been little. I'm disappointed that I can't be of more use to the poor people, but we're doing good work and people are benefitting." Prof. Koh agrees.
He told The Sunday Times in an e-mail interview: "Most people, including those procuring supplies for the tsunami victims, are not aware that the conventional kerosene lamp is dangerous and that there is a better alternative."
