Health Sciences University's (SBU) Defense Health Sciences Institute has prepared a disaster response scenario that includes transforming Atatürk Airport into a field hospital in case of a possible Istanbul earthquake, responding to the injured and rapid deployment of air ambulances, the director of the institution said Friday.
Professor Ali Ihsan Uzar, director of the institute, offered details about the numerous studies in the Department of Health Services Management on the Disaster and Emergency Situations within their organization and noted that 65% of Türkiye is located in a first-degree earthquake zone.
Uzar said they are working on preparation plans in case an earthquake hits Istanbul, a possibility scientists frequently warn of. In this context, the disaster response scenario, which focuses on rapid response to the injured, was prepared.
He also stated that the scenario was shared with relevant organizations such as the Ministry of Health, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the State Airports Authority. "It is stated that there would be at least 100,000 injured in a possible Istanbul earthquake," he said.
Elaborating on how the disaster response scenario should look, Uzar noted that the system was prepared with the expert teams, drawing attention to the importance of how to respond to the injured in the first six hours with appropriate units and terminal buildings with a solid infrastructure.
''In this period, the right intervention ensures that people can both hold survive and prevent loss of limbs and kidney loss," he underscored.
Emphasizing that the ideal hospital in a major earthquake would be the terminal buildings of airports since electricity, water, toilets and communication would not be interrupted, Uzar continued: ''Taking in consideration that the regions on the European side that are expected to be most affected by the earthquake, the field hospitals to be established may not be sufficient.''
''The first location prioritized for conversion into a hospital in response to this crisis is Atatürk Airport," he added.
''We planned to turn the airport and terminal buildings into field hospitals, to place field-mobilized medical devices there, to provide the first and emergency response to our wounded, and then to transfer them to the appropriate provinces via an air corridor to be created,'' he explained. Thus, in the first six hours of a potential earthquake, it is possible to intervene quickly to help the injured.
Expressing that they also expect the TSK's transport planes to be activated in the air corridor to be created for the transport of the wounded, Uzar said, "Our transport planes would arrive at Atatürk Airport bringing health personnel and medical equipment.''
Pointing to the importance of physicians, Uzar shared they aim to increase the number of flight physicians with the courses to be opened at the center within the institute and to provide a flight physician on every aircraft carrying injured patients.
