Volunteers Needed for Disaster Relief for the
Turkey-Syria Earthquake
Turkey’s Need for Help is Overwhelming
IMR is sending disaster relief teams to southern Turkey in response to the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Sunday, February 5, and the ongoing aftershocks. The need for volunteers is overwhelming! Tens of thousands of people have lost their lives in Turkey and northeastern Syria, and tens of thousands more are injured. Search and rescue teams are still working to locate survivors.
IMR is the exclusive NGO overseeing a large hospital in the central region of the disaster where 80% of the buildings were destroyed. Hospital leadership and the provincial governor have delegated IMR the authority of overseeing relief operations, and a housing compound has been established for volunteers. Medical volunteers of any specialty are desperately needed!
DART Response
Following the earthquake, IMR immediately deployed a Disaster Area Response Team (DART) of doctors, nurses, and EMTs to set up the logistics required to accommodate volunteers wanting to help in Turkey and Syria. The implications to the healthcare systems of both Turkey and Syria are already severe as tens of thousands of people have been injured as a result of the earthquake.
The DART provided some immediate relief in medicine and supplies for basic first aid, trauma care, and wound care and medical supplies, which are in short supply, as well as qualified and skilled medical teams with equipment to support and treat those in need from the hardest-hit areas.
We Need Volunteers to Respond and Donations for Medicine and Medical Supplies!
IMR's Earthquake Disaster Response
IMR disaster relief teams respond in waves according to the needs of the people in an area after disaster strikes. We mobilize our volunteers based on their skill set as it relates to the urgency of the victims. For Turkey and Syria earthquake volunteers, we are in Phase 1 in need of First Responders.
Our immediate responders are surgical and orthopedic volunteers, urgent care providers, and wound care specialists that can help with immediate patient stabilization. We also bring in psychiatric care for posttraumatic stress disorder, grieving loss of life, and consultation on other traumatic issues facing disaster victims. Immediate disasters also include general family practice and internal medicine providers, and mid-level practitioners, as well as nonmedical volunteers for coordination, set-up, and communication. Our community health education focus initially concentrates on obtaining safe and secure areas for living if people are displaced, as well as clean water solutions, and accessing shelter, water, medical, and other assistance programs that may be available.
If you have the ability to join our disaster relief response to the Turkey-Syria earthquake, apply for one of the available missions and we will be in contact with you regarding the details.
