Keeping KPPS Officers Healthy on Duty

The Voting Organizing Group (KPPS) in each five-year election period again becomes the concern of all parties, especially with the large number of fatalities reported and recorded deaths or illnesses while carrying out their duties.

In the Republic of Health Ministry of Health's study data report regarding Election Officials in 2019, it was recorded that 485 KPPS members died and 10,997 were sick. Of the 485 people who died, it is known that 53% were caused by cardiovascular/heart disease, stroke and hypertensive emergencies, 9% were due to accidents, and 38% were caused by respiratory failure, asthma, kidney failure, DM and liver disease.

In this 2024 election, as of February 19 2024, the Ministry of Health recorded that 84 election officials had died after carrying out their duties in the election vote counting process, and of these 84 people, 36 were KPPS officers. And there were 4,567 people who were sick after overseeing the vote count.

SOCIAL PRESSURE FACTORS & PHYSICAL FATIGUE

KPPS in preparing and carrying out the general election process is always highlighted by many parties, starting from panwaslu/bawaslu, guarding bhabinkamtibmas, babinsa, representatives of political parties/legislative candidates/cawapres and NGOs. And this spotlight gives and becomes psychological pressure for KPPS, so that everything they do must be correct.

Moreover, the mental pressure gets stronger when the counting starts at the TPS level down to the Subdistrict and Subdistrict level which is carried out in a relay manner, and this counting process takes up a lot of time and energy for KPPS Officers where the counting process can only be completed until the evening, i.e. more than 12 hours.

Psychological pressure continues to increase if there is disagreement/objection from witnesses who ask for a recount because the data counted is not in sync with the total number of valid and invalid ballots.

Moreover, this year's election was held in the rainy season so that quite a few polling stations were flooded or election documents were damaged due to flooding, and quite a few polling stations continued to hold elections in shallow flood conditions. The cold conditions of feet submerged in flood waters, irregular eating patterns due to delays in consumption and the many obstacles that occur in the field related to weather have a big potential to contribute to increasing the risk of health problems for KPPS members.

Especially KPPS officers who are over 50 years old are the most vulnerable to experiencing physical fatigue which leads to psychological stress and are most at risk of experiencing health problems.

CONTROL OF DISEASES SUFFERED

For KPPS officers who already have chronic diseases such as heart disease, hypertension, kidney disease, diabetes, stroke and others, it is recommended that they continue to take therapeutic drugs for their disease regularly and on time. You are not allowed to delay taking medication even if you are very busy in your duties as KPPS.

Apart from having chronic diseases, officers must also maintain their body condition by eating on time so as not to cause acute digestive tract pain. And it is best if the food menu prepared does not contain coconut milk or is too spicy. Don't forget to drink enough water at least 2-3 liters / day except for people with heart disease, kidney failure and other diseases that require limiting water drinking, then adjust it according to what is recommended by the doctor providing the therapy.

MONITORING AND AWARENESS

The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia has prepared thousands of Rapid Response Unit teams in various regions, and is coordinating with the Provincial Health Service down to the City/Regency level Health Service to alert its health workers to provide special health assistance/services for KPPS officers during the Election period until the vote counting period. at the sub-district level completely.

Therefore, community participation is also needed for early detection when health problems occur for KPPS officers, starting from the RT/RW who can provide initial assistance by taking them to the nearest health facility or hospital emergency room.

It is hoped that this year the number of cases of death and morbidity for KPPS officers throughout Indonesia will be as minimal as possible.