Page 29 - The Gazette Autumn 2023

to approach to me if I wasn’t already known and trusted. Therefore, it was imperative to get involved in anything I had the availability to support with in the early stages.
During the nights the temperature was below freezing, however during the day the weather would be warm and bright, reaching the high 20°s Celsius. Timing when to put on and take off warm kit became a skill in of itself. Huge snow-capped mountains and roving green fields contrasted to the surrounding destruction.
The epitome of this for us being the hospital building itself. A large crack ran down the centre of the four-storey building, flanked by broken windows. One window on the third floor had what looked to be a collection of bedsheets, tied together to form a sort of escape rope to the ground floor. A story there in of itself.
Nearby shops and flats were crumbling. In the distance a mosque appeared to be missing the entire front wall.
Within 24 hours, the medical facility was set up and ready to start supporting the hospital and seeing patients. It was now that a select group of clinicians went to the Turkish hospital to meet with the NGO UK Med and the Turkish medical team and assess our next steps. The hospital itself stood empty due to it not being structurally sound, however throughout the car park, UK Med and Turkish tent infrastructure had been set out to facilitate healthcare.
The UK Med team, consisting of clinicians and locally employed translators supported the work of the Turkish doctors and nurses in treating and supporting the needs of a wide-ranging patient base. You could see that the current workload was heavily demanding on all the staff in place.
I was asked by the UK Med staff about my role and whether I could support in the needs of the patient base. At this point in the disaster, patients were presenting with less immediate crisis conditions and more long term/minor injuries that, due to the
In the distance
a mosque appeared to be missing the entire front wall.
lack of local healthcare infrastructure still needed addressing. The staff there had mentioned a multitude of patients arriving and having suspected mental health concerns.
After some deliberation with the senior medical officer on the operation, we agreed that following full assessment and medical treatment, I could assist in offering some triage assessment and low-level mental healthcare intervention.
I made concerted efforts to communicate to the team about my role and how they could access me for support, providing mental health awareness training to the medics and consistently
moving fluidly throughout the camp and being visible. I kept a booking in sheet at the medical reception station in case anyone wanted to access me and hadn’t found me. I believe this is what led to
The Gazette QARANC Association 29