As Türkiye copes with the “disaster of the century,” two earthquakes that killed thousands in 10 provinces across its southern regions, people from across the country rush to help victims. Air ambulances of the Health Ministry offer a lifeline for victims and people with illnesses who survived the disaster last Monday.
Shuttling between the capital Ankara and earthquake-hit provinces, air ambulances last transported two people injured in the earthquake. One of the patients was from Kahramanmaraş and the other one was a paralyzed patient from Malatya – a province that was heavily affected by the catastrophe.
A fully equipped air ambulance, with an intensive care unit and spaces for three stretchers, carried the victims to hospitals in Ankara on Sunday after taking off from their main base in Istanbul. A doctor and two other healthcare workers first flew to Malatya Airport to take 39-year-old Yeter Kaya. From there, they flew to Kahramanmaraş and accompanied Mevlüt Nedirli, 69, and Cuma Asigün, 85, from an ambulance to the plane. After a 2,000-kilometer (1242.7 miles) flight, Nedirli was taken to Ankara’s Bilkent City Hospital, while Asigün and Kaya were taken to other hospitals.
Dr. Güven Kırımlı, assigned to the air ambulance, said it helps for the safe evacuation of injured people in earthquake-hit areas to safer cities, places where they can have advanced treatment or places where they can stay with their relatives. Kırımlı told Anadolu Agency (AA) that ambulances were flying to Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara from airports in earthquake-hit areas.
“We had two earthquake victims. Mevlüt was in better health compared to others, though his one arm and leg were partly amputated. He did not have any fatal risk, though. Cuma is more critical because of his old age and brain hemorrhage. The other patient had fallen sick in an earthquake zone and was required to have advanced treatment for a lung infection and asthma episode,” he explained.
The health professional said the air ambulance had all the essential equipment for a small intensive care unit, from breathing devices to monitors and other medical equipment.
Nedirli was awake when the earthquake hit in the early hours last Monday. Just when he was heading to the bathroom, his house collapsed, and concrete slabs fell on his head. “It was all dark then,” Nedirli recounted the moment of disaster.
Some 120 hours later, he was rescued from the rubble in Kahramanmaraş.
