Doctor in Turkiye describes horrific conditions caused by the earthquake

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Across large swathes of Turkiye and Syria, people are still stuck in rubble nearly a week after an earthquake rocked the region. A doctor in Turkiye shares what it is like on the ground, while a Madison area doctor shares how people can help.

“This was the worst catastrophe I could ever imagine,” said physician of emergency medicine, Dr. Ibrahim Ulas Ozturan. “And we estimate that at least more than a hundred thousand people are still under the rubble now.”

As of Sunday morning, reports from Turkiye (Dr. Ozturan asked we use the new spelling and pronunciation of the country’s name for the story, which was announced by the Turkish government last year and adopted by the United Nations) and Syria rose to an estimated 35,000. Dr. Ozturan says millions are displaced due to the earthquake. He has worked for nearly a week in Kahramanmaras, at the center of the devastation.

“The affected areas are too large; a number of rescue teams weren’t enough to reach many areas,” said Dr. Ozturan. “Still today, six days after this catastrophe, some rural Villages still couldn’t be reached.”

He says everything is a challenge, from getting help to people in need of medical attention or stuck in the rubble to finding food, water, and power. He says his staff works throughout the day just to sleep in the garage, car, or hospital, with no home left to return to, much like the patients they serve. He shared one story of a stoppage in ambulance services last week.

“Suddenly, the ambulances stopped coming, and we were so curious about what’s going on, what happened,” said Dr. Ozturan. “The teams from the fields said that the bodies on the streets were attacked by hungry dogs and the street animals, so they needed to collect all the bodies in the streets; that was the most heart heartbreaking thing that I have ever heard.”

University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Dr. Janis Tupesis says there are ways to help.

“I think that we all need to realize that we need to part be part of the solution rather than be part of the problem,” said Dr. Tupesis. “Making sure that you sort of understand that there are local resources there that we can donate to; those are non-governmental organizations that have been there for years.”

Dr. Tupesis collaborates with colleagues around the world and is a part of the UW-Madison Global Health Institute and the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine. He recommends donating to places like the International Red Cross, Red Crescent International Medical Corps, and Doctors Without Borders to get resources to Turkiye quickly, helping people on the ground, like Dr. Ozturan.

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