Health care teams across Türkiye continue their dedicated work around the clock during Ramadan, remaining fully committed to providing essential care without pausing for sahur or iftar. Despite the challenges of fasting and the increased demand during this holy month, emergency health teams, including paramedics and ambulance drivers, focus on delivering vital services to patients in need, often responding to critical situations at a moment's notice.
In Erzincan, eastern Türkiye, 112 Emergency Health teams continue their dedicated efforts to assist injured and critical patients around the clock, maintaining their intense workload even during Ramadan.
Teams under the Provincial Health Directorate race against time to reach emergency calls as quickly as possible and save lives.
When an emergency call arrives, health care workers leave their iftar or sahur meals behind and respond with dedication to fulfill their duties.
Dr. Furkan Tan, chief physician of the Provincial Ambulance Service, told the Anadolu Agency (AA) that they remain on duty 24/7.
Highlighting their commitment during Ramadan, Tan stated: "Our primary goal is to provide necessary intervention to patients and injured individuals in critical condition. I sincerely thank my colleagues who work with the same dedication and enthusiasm during Ramadan. This period can be even more challenging for us, especially due to traffic congestion near iftar time."
"We kindly ask drivers to create a life corridor for us by applying the zipper system we have previously introduced to facilitate ambulance passage," he added.
Dr. Serhad Can Ak emphasized that emergency medical services reach patients even before their families and loved ones, saying, "Special occasions and holidays make no difference for us. Our teams work with full dedication 24/7 during Ramadan as well and sometimes we do not even have a chance to eat. This exhausts us, but when we relieve a child’s pain or receive a prayer of gratitude from an elderly person, we truly forget all the hardships."
Ak pointed out that false emergency calls make their job more difficult and urged the public to be more responsible in this regard.
Ambulance driver Emre Ercan also shared that there are times when they break their fast with just water in the vehicle, adding, "As you know, our profession comes with both challenges and rewarding moments, and we experience them all together."
