Two strong earthquakes, one measuring 7.8 and the other measuring 7.5, and dozens of aftershocks shook Turkey and Syria on Monday, causing more than 1,500 deaths and thousands of injuries. After a catastrophe of this magnitude, what is the first step for search and rescue teams? heard by TSF, the president of the Civil Protection Association says that it is necessary to organize emergency teams. João Paulo Saraiva explains that the roads must be clear to save and remove victims from the rubble.
“We proceed to clear the access roads for rescue vehicles to evacuate the victims and while the search and rescue teams, made up of volunteers and members of the emergency teams, locate the victims, they are ordered. need to set up field structures, advanced medical posts, triage units, field hospitals to reinforce pre-hospital medical care capacity,” he says, speaking to TSF.
For João Paulo Saraiva, the greatest difficulty for relief forces is achieving response capacity when they are in a fight against time.
“With the lack of human and technical resources, despite the mobilization of volunteers and therefore the call for international help, at this moment Turkey needs all the help that can be available in terms of human and technical resources, not just vehicles. rescue or aircraft. Means, because with the limitations in road access, this evacuation becomes more difficult, but also the campaign structures, which are usually enabled for these situations.
The Civil Protection Association is available to help in whatever is necessary, but regrets that, due to the lack of investment by the Government in volunteering in Civil Protection, there is little room to help in international catastrophes.
“We are aware of our small size and this small size is due to two aspects: on the one hand, the government’s lack of commitment to Civil Protection volunteers, the lack of investment in Civil Protection volunteers, even so we have some specialized elements in these valences, which are necessary in a catastrophe of this magnitude. The Civil Protection Association is more prepared and dedicated to intervening in our country, although if it is necessary and requested, we will also participate in what is possible”, underlines the president of the Civil Protection Association.
An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale left at least 912 dead in Turkey and 592 in Syria, as well as thousands injured in both countries. The epicenter of the quake was recorded in southern Turkey during the early hours of the morning.
A few hours later, a new earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale struck southeastern Turkey, according to the US Geological Survey.
Source: TSF
