Upon February 6, Turkey has been hit by a powerful earthquake that left several thousands of people dead and tens of thousands injured. Hospitals in the region are usually overwhelmed by the number of wounded and local capacity has been quickly reached. Thousands of people currently do not have access to emergency medical care. The Turkish authorities have therefore requested international assistance to deploy specialized field hospitals in addition to Search plus Rescue teams. The B-FAST planning committee gathered immediately and held a meeting with the Turkish embassy in Brussels to provide the most efficient assistance to the affected areas. Belgium is currently planning to send a B-Fast Emergency Medical Team (called EMT 2) to Turkey. Our own country will set up an area hospital and send personnel to provide the necessary medical assistance to the local population and assist reducing the pressure around the Turkish hospitals. The first specialists will depart for the heavily affected country tomorrow. Also, 10, 000 sleeping luggage are sent along. The field hospital provided to Turkey can treat more than 100 patients daily and accommodate at least twenty patients for overnight statement. The team will include Belgian doctors, specialized in emergency surgical procedure, supported by emergency healthcare professionals and other specific medical users. The team will be able to perform surgeries on site and offer other vital medical assistance. A unique section called “mother plus child” will also be provided. The field hospital helps to ease the burden on Turkish hospitals. A couple weeks after such earthquake, the particular healthcare system continues to be pressurized. Depending on the needs on the ground, the particular team will remain on the ground for many weeks. The total team may consist of 70 to eighty people. The reconnaissance team will keep tomorrow to locate places where the field hospital can be set up. A second team will then keep this weekend to set up the whole field hospital, which is expected to be running by following Thursday. Given the extreme weather conditions, it had been also decided to send ten, 000 sleeping bags immediately. The entire hospital, consisting of several dozens of storage containers, will be transported by the Protection aircraft from Melsbroek military airport. Medical specialists are usually mainly volunteers called within by the FPS Public Health, as well as military medical employees. The FPS Home Matters is responsible for the construction and the FPS Foreign Affairs is responsible for the diplomatic part. The overall management of the whole procedure from Belgium is ensured by the B-FAST Secretariat, on the Crisis Centre of the FPS Foreign Affairs. For the entire operation, 8 million euros are anticipated. B-FAST is the structure of the federal government that is activated when delivering emergency aid abroad and consists of FPS Public Health, Defense, FPS Home Matters, Bosa, and FPS Foreign Affairs and Development Assistance.
