Health workers in Hatay, one of the 11 Turkish provinces ravaged by the powerful back-to-back earthquakes last month, welcomed Health Workers' Day, or "Medicine Day," on March 14. The staff has been working regardless of the concept of overtime, trying to heal the wounds of survivors in the field hospital set up after the devastating tremors that took over 48,000 lives, according to the last official data.
Furkan Pilavcıoğlu, a member of the operating room staff and one of 400 members employed in the field hospital established in the garden of Hatay’s Education and Research Hospital, said that he was on duty when the earthquake occurred, experiencing the earthquake in the hospital.
Stating that he continued to work in the field hospital after the hospital was evacuated, Pilavcıoğlu expressed hope that the wounds would heal quickly while urging to ''stand up again, arm in arm after this earthquake."
Gamze Sunar, an emergency medical technician on duty at the hospital, stated that despite the great destruction, health care professionals had put aside their feelings and continued their duties uninterruptedly as a requirement of their profession. "We forgot our own pain. We help people and we will continue to do so," she said.
Paramedic Asena Umut, on the other hand, stated that it would not be possible to express the scope of the disaster in words. Explaining that as soon as they got over the shock of the earthquake, they rushed to duty when they left the house, Umut said: "We are grateful to be alive, we are here to help the people left behind. We are at the beginning of our duty, our hope is to alleviate the pain and heal the wounds, taking necessary precautions."
Speaking to Sabah newspaper, another doctor who witnessed the disaster, dubbed as "the disaster of the century," recalled his experiences regarding the first moments of the early morning quake that caught him during his working hours, noting it was his duty as a health professional to help those in need.
Orthopedics and Traumatology specialist Onur Oğuztürk noted he was at Hatay's Mustafa Kemal University Hospital on the night of the earthquake. "My friends and I evacuated the patients in the ward and moved to the emergency department. We have formed a trauma site. We were also earthquake victims, but right after we ensured our safety, we only thought of helping the sick. I talked to my father on the phone the first day and learned that he was fine, then we didn't talk for two days. We worked tirelessly and relentlessly. I could have gone (near) my family, but that's what I had to do. Our profession requires sacrifice," Oğuztürk stated.
On the occasion of ''Medicine Day," a Turkish version of National Doctors’ Day, officials, including Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, congratulated the doctors and health workers, thanking them for their efforts, and quick and effective treatments provided for citizens, during all types of medical interventions after the Feb. 6 earthquakes.
"Their sacrifice and heroism are beyond all appreciation," Akar noted in his written statement. " Throughout history, the science of medicine has always had a special importance in maintaining, raising and protecting the quality of human life,'' Akar stated.
''I once again commemorate with mercy and gratitude all our healthcare workers who lost their lives while fulfilling their sacred duties, (our) healthcare personnel who passed away, and all those who lost their lives in the earthquake,'' the minister said.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca separately stated that 505 health workers lost their lives in the earthquakes that struck southeastern parts of the country on Feb. 6, underlining that this March 14 is the day of healing. "March 14, is a March without a medical 'celebration.' We are in mourning,'' Koca wrote on his official social media account.
Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop also marked the occasion, thanking endlessly all the health workers, including nurse Şeyma Alakuş recognized for her heroic acts nationwide after the video of her rushing to save the babies during the moments the earthquakes struck was widely shared on social media.
Apart from all the medical staff deployed from all over the country, approximately 3,000 rescue and health members from several European countries, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Hungary, joined the relief operations carried out under the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) in the southeastern region in the aftermath of the deadly quakes, saving dozens of people from the rubble.
