18 February 2023 , 22:11
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NHS medics have arrived in Turkey to help staff a British field hospital.
It has been set up on the ruins of a hospital destroyed by the quake in the town of Turkoglu near the Syrian border.
The entire town of 80,000 people is sleeping in tents or cars with night temperatures of -8C.
NHS nurse Melanie Johnson is leading a team of around 35 medics and staff sent by the charity UK-Med, which responds to disasters and conflicts around the world.
Melanie, 36, from Bristol, said: “Everyone coming through the door has lost somebody or is missing a loved one.
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“It is really cold and a lot of what we are seeing is people with illnesses as a direct result of the conditions they are living in.
British nurse Melanie Johnson at the field hospital set up by UK-Med in Turkoglu, eastern Turkey (uk-med.org)“But the local people are being so incredibly robust, so generous and friendly to us. I was just talking to one little girl who was happily practising her English with me.
“She had a few words, saying hello and telling me her sister’s name.
“We’ve got toys with us and bubbles and things like that. Like any children, they just want to play.”
The 7.8-magnitude quake hit in the early hours of February 6 followed by a 7.5-magnitude tremor just after midday (Getty Images)Victims include premature babies with traumatic injuries – and search and rescue teams suffering problems such as shortness of breath caused by the dust.
The charity has more than 1,000 medics and logisticians – mainly from the NHS – whose employers allow them to be deployed to disasters, disease outbreaks and war zones.
UK-Med is working alongside a larger MoD field hospital with a 24/7 operating theatre, high-dependency unit, and beds for in-patient care.
The medics were dispatched to the British field hospital in Turkoglu, Kahramanmaras (uk-med.org)Melanie, who has also worked for UK-Med in Ukraine, Bangladesh and Lebanon, said: “My mum is always concerned before I go and this time she said, ‘Can’t someone else go?’
“But if everyone said that no one would go at all. We have to share globally our resources to improve life for everybody.”
To donate, visit uk-med.org.
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