Korban yang Diterkam Buaya di Sungai Ditemukan

Seorang petugas keamanan PT Nawaraka Perkasa Nusantara yang hilang diterkam buaya di Sungai Sangatta, Kalimantan Timur, pada Jumat (29/8) sudah ditemukan pada Sabtu sore sekitar pukul 17.50 Wita dalam kondisi tak bernyawa.

Kepala Basarnas (SAR) Sangatta, Bungga Losong yang dihubungi di pos pencarian, Sabtu mengatakan, Dela Handayani, korban yang diterkam buaya sudah ditemukan Sabtu sore dalam kondisi meninggal.

Korban langsung dilarikan ke Rumah Sakit Umum Daerah (RSUD) Sangatta untuk diotopsi. Dia merupakan karyawan PT Nawaraka Perkasa Nusantara, perusahaan kontraktor keamanan pada tambang batubara PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) di Kutai Timur, Kalimantan Timur.

"Korban ditemukan di sekitar 400 meter dari TKP dalam keadaan mengapung. Kondisi anggota tubuhnya masih utuh, namun bagian dada kanan berlubang akibat gigitan buaya," kata Bungga Logong.

Menurut Bungga Losong yang lebih populer dengan sapaan Aleks, pencarian selama dua hari melibatkan berbagai unsur, seperti Basarnas (SAR), TNI AL, Kepolisian, Tagana, Dinas Kesehatan, Dinas Sosial, PMI, BPBD dan puluhan masyarakat.

"Alhamdulillah kerja keras semua, tim berhasil menemukan korban, meskipun dalam kondisi sudah tak bernyawa. Hari ini juga tim yang terlibat berhenti," katanya.
Mengapung

Sementara Agus, warga Jalan Durian Sangatta Utara yang pertama kali menemukan korban mengatakan hanya melihat kepala dan rambutnya mengapung di pinggir sungai sekitar Dusun Masabang.

Menurut Agus, saat melihat rambut dan kepala mengapung dirinya langsung memanggil keluarga korban. Kemudian ada perahu yang mencari korban dipanggil dan pada saat bersamaan juga ada petugas SAR datang dan menjemputnya untuk dibawa pulang.

"Saya melihat waktu diangkat petugas, badannya semua utuh, hanya dada bagian kanan berlubang. Dia tidak pakai baju tapi menggunakan celana pendek berwarna merah," kata Agus dengan nada semangat.

Dilaporkan juga bahwa dengan ditemukannya korban, suasana lokasi menjadi ramai karena warga berlarian ingin melihat langsung korban yang selama dua hari hilang.

Meskipun kondisi di sekitar lokasi pencarian becek dan licin karena diguyur hujan, ratusan orang tetap berlarian ingin melihat korban yang sudah dibawa dengan mobil ambulance.

Pencarian hari kedua ini juga melibatkan enam pawang terdiri atas dua pawang laki-laki dan empat pawang perempuan. Mereka tidak henti-hentinya membaca mantra-mantra dengan sesaji yang mereka persiapkan.

Sesaji seperti telur ayam kampung tiga butir, beras kuning segenggam tangan, kayu manis 1 lembar, pisang kepok 1 sisir, lilin 1 buah, rokok 1 bungkus dan korek api 1 buah.
Mereka mengaku yakin dengan sesaji dan mantra-mantra, buaya akan menyerah dan korban akan segera ditemukan dalam waktu 2 kali 24 jam.

"Saya yakin sore ini korban ditemukan kata pawang Ernawati. Pokoknya buaya akan menyerah dan paling lama 2 kali 24 jam sudah ditemukan korbannya," kata Kaseng, pawang senior di Sangatta yang ditemui di atas perahu.

Korban Dela Handayani yang berlamat di RT 37 Gang Mujur Jaya Sangatta Utara diterkam buaya saat memperbaiki pipa dan pompa air di pinggir sungai, Jumat, sekitar pukul 08.30 Wita yang rumahnya hanya berjarak sekitar 50 meter dari lokasi.

Tewasnya Dela Handayani membuat kedua orang tuanya, Samsuddin (ayah) dan Maariadana (ibu) sangat sedih karena anaknya itu yang masih lajang itu tulang punggung keluarga. (antara)

Pemkot Medan Beri Penghargaan Empat Rumah Sakit

Pemerintah Kota Medan, Sumatera Utara, memberikan penghargaan kepada empat rumah sakit swasta yang dinilai telah mendukung upaya peningkatan derajat kesehatan masyarakat dengan memberikan pelayanan terbaik kepada warga kurang mampu.

"Diharapkan dengan penghargaan yang diberikan ini, keempat rumah sakit ini semakin meningkatkan pelayanan kepada pasien yang berasal dari warga kurang mampu," kata Wali Kota Medan Dzulmi Eldin di Medan, Kamis, saat memberikan piagam penghargaan kepada keempat rumah sakit tersebut.

Keempat rumah sakit swasta yang mendapatkan penghargaan itu yakni RS Columbia Asia, RS Murni Teguh, RS Marta Friska dan RS Bandung.

Selain keempat rumah sakit, Wali Kota juga memberikan penghargaan khusus kepada dr Mahyono Sp.B Finacs karena telah menangani pasien dari keluarga kurang mampu bernama M Sakhi Zaidan di RS Colombia Asia dengan baik dan penuh keikhlasan.

"Semoga ke depannya semakin banyak muncul dr Mahyono-dr Mahyono lainnya," katanya.

Sebelum memberikan penghargaan, Eldin dalam sambutannya berharap kepada seluruh rumah sakit yang ada di Kota Medan untuk lebih mengutamakan penanganan terhadap pasien dari pada urusan administrasi.

Untuk keempat rumah sakit yang menerima penghargaan ini, Eldin mengaku telah melihat langsung penanganan yang diberikan kepada pasien dari keluarga kurang mampu.

"Saya sudah melihat langsung, keempat rumah sakit ini benar-benar memberikan pelayanan yang baik kepada pasien kurang mampu tanpa mengutamakan urusan administrasi," katanya.

Untuk itulah, lanjut dia, apa yang dilakukan keempat rumah sakit ini harus didukung dan diapresiasi dan di samping itu guna menghilangkan kesan yang ada di tengah masyarakat selama ini, di mana mengatakan rumah sakit mewah hanya untuk orang berduit saja, bukan untuk warga kurang mampu.

Oleh karenanya Eldin berharap agar penghargaan yang diberikan ini dapat menjadi motivasi bagi peningkatan kinerja pelayanan di keempat rumah sakit tersebut.

Selain itu jangan berpuas diri, sebab fungsi rumah sakit harus terus melayani masyarakat di bidang kesehatan. Kemudian terus menjalin kerjasama dengan Pemkot Medan, terutama dalam memberikan akses kesehatan terhadap masyarakat kurang mampu.

"Yang lebih penting lagi, saya kembali berharap kepada seluruh rumah sakit yang ada untuk mendahulukan penanganan terhadap pasien dari pada urusan administrasi sehingga masyarakat benar-benar terlayani," katanya. (antara)

Gurah: Traditional Health

Cleansing your way to good health with 'gurah'


If you suffer from sinusitis or asthma and have lost hope of ever finding a cure, you might consider taking a trip to Giriloyo hamlet in Imogiri, Bantul regency, Yogyakarta.

This hamlet is popular for gurah -- a traditional health treatment that cleanses the upper respiratory tract, and which is believed to be able to cure sinusitis effectively at a low cost.

The treatment, which uses traditional herbal ingredients, including the roots of the Sirgungu plant (Cherodentum serratum), is believed to also be effective in the treatment of health problems like asthma and migraine and is also known to clear the voice; a claim that has tempted many singers to give it a try.

The gurah treatment is quite simple: Ground and mixed herbal ingredients are inserted in the patient's nose while he or she is laying down. The patient is then turned around and lays flat on their stomach.

Not long after turning over, mucus starts to come from the patient's mouth. This is followed by teardrops, as if the person is crying, and finally, mucus also comes out from the patient's nose.

The bed the patient lays on has been designed with an opening where the head is placed; a sand-filled bucket is placed underneath to absorb the mucus.

When The Jakarta Post tried the treatment at Ali Sarpan's gurah clinic in Giriloyo, the herbal mix tasted bitter. When swallowed, it caused pain, leaving a hot sensation in the nose, eyes and ears that lasted for about five minutes.

Ali Sarpan said the two-hour treatment was believed to be developed by the late Marzuki back in the 1940s. At that time, the practice was used to assist qari and qariah -- male and female reciters of the Koran -- in Marzuki's pesantren (Islamic boarding school) to give them clear voices to read the Koran.

He said Marzuki had passed the practice on to his three students -- Ali Sarpan, H Hisyam and the late Wajidi.

"I used to suffer from migraines and felt dizzy when I stood up. Since I started the gurah treatments, I've not had another migraine," said Mas'oed, a fan of the traditional medication.

Another regular patient, Irawan, seeks gurah treatment whenever he is not feeling well. He has done so for the past four years.

Before trying the treatment, he said, he had experienced trouble breathing and regularly suffered headaches: But now, those problems were in the past.

"The cost of the treatment is rather inexpensive, too ... a client needs only paid what he or she can afford," Irawan said.

He added if a patient had money, he or she would pay Rp 100,000, but if not, Rp 50,000 was enough.

It is not only the local residents who seek the gurah treatment; many government officials, famous singers and foreigners have also tried the traditional remedy.

"Singers like Iwan Fals and Arman Maulana have tried the treatment here," said Hisyam, one of Giriloyo's gurah practitioners, who has been in the business for 17 years.

He said he had lost count of the number of government officials who had come to him for the gurah treatment.

Hisyam even claims he was invited by the late president Soeharto's Cendana family to perform the treatment, and had twice treated former Jakarta governor Sutiyoso.

The father of four said he also had many foreign patients from Australia, Russia, Switzerland and the U.S., most of whom sought treatment for sinusitis.

Hisyam has received many awards, including from Yogyakarta's Health office, for his services in the development of traditional health remedies.

Before administering the treatment, practitioners first pray to God to ask for the patient's quick recovery.

"The treatment is just an instrument ... the recovery is all in God's hand," said Hisyam.

Center of Gurah Treatments

Giriloyo's formula

Giriloyo's status as the center of gurah treatments has seen many locals try to profit from the practice: One can see signboards on practically ever street corner in the hamlet, directing newcomers to this or that gurah expert.

Hisyam and Ali Sarpan, as the pioneers of the treatment in the village, have the two busiest practices in Giriloyo.

There are people in the hamlet who even claim to be Hisyam's nephews or students.

"None of my students or nephews have opened a gurah business here. What can you do about people who are just seeking their fortune?" Hisyam said.

Ali Sarpan cautioned people to be aware, saying some people claiming to be practitioners had added different ingredients to the original Giriloyo formula, or had changed its form to reap more profits.

He cited the popular gurah "capsule" as one example.

"Many of my patients, both local and from abroad, said they had used gurah capsules, which cost them hundreds of thousands of rupiah. But their health conditions hadn't improved (after using them)," Ali said.

Based on research carried out by a team from Gadjah Mada University and Sardjito Hospital in 1998 and led by Prof. Soepomo, gurah is a safe health treatment provided the patient doesn't have an infection.

Soepomo said the root of Cherodentum serratum contains two key substances -- serotannin and tannin. The function of serotannin is to stimulate nerves; this helps expel the mucus after the herbal mix is inserted in the nasal passage.

"The tannin makes the mucus congeal and closes wounds after the mucus has been expelled," said the retired former lecturer of ear, nose and throat disorders and medications.

Patients who suffer from allergies or sinusitis have been known to enjoy improved health after undergoing gurah treatment.

"It's said that it can also cure breathing problems and asthma but we don't focus on those claims. It's only logical that people who can hardly breathe because they have an excess amount of mucus in their airways will experience improvements in their breathing once the mucus is out," Soepomo said.

However, he said, there is a need to be cautious: People with infected tonsils should avoid the treatment.

"This is because when you cleanse the nose hairs, which filter bacteria, they get disturbed. If someone with an infection has the treatment, their infection may become worse."