The first Israeli delegation to Turkey is making its way back to Israel

complicated rescue; we broke through the basement into an apartment above us, where the boy was. Through the spaces we created, we managed to rescue the child, and after I checked him, I realized that he was in excellent medical condition. It was gratifying, but nothing prepared me for when he ran barefoot to his grandfather, who was waiting for him outside.’

The first Israeli delegation that traveled to Turkey to assist in locating, rescuing, and treating victims in the disaster area began this morning (Monday) to complete its mission and is now making its way back to Israel. During 8 complex days, the delegation managed to rescue 19 people from the ruins while still alive. A representative of Magen David Adom to the Home Front Command delegation, director of the emergency department, and MDA paramedic, Lt. Col. (res.) Felix Lotan summarizes the activities conducted in the disaster area. He describes the rescue operations in ruins - from the problematic sights to the signs of life and when the rescued 6-year-old boy ran into his grandfather’s arms.

We arrived late at night at the disaster area in Karamanmarsh,’ Felix recalls, “Moments later, I was already called to assist the teams of the Home Front Command. We were directed to the ruins of a building where a small child was trapped. It was a

“I don’t remember going to sleep at all in the first few days,” says Felix, “we were in a specific area, and all of our team worked on very few hours of sleep and food - not because there was none, but because there is no time to eat and no time to waste.” We moved from place to place, from building to building, and at one point, we began a very long rescue - two people trapped under the ruins of one of the buildings.’

Hours into that complex rescue, Felix receives a message that there is another rescue - a woman identified under the rubble not far away and in a challenging situation. “The doctor of the rescue unit asked for another senior medical person with him to make decisions, and I got there quickly. The leg of the 27-year-old woman was trapped in a complex way under the rubble, and we are debating whether to perform an amputation to rescue her. Unfortunately, time worked against us, but after consulting with a rescue officer, we decided not to amputate the leg and continue with a different rescue method. Finally, after an hour of rescue efforts, we released the portion without amputating it. The woman was in a very narrow and crowded space, it was tough to move there, but another hour passed, and we managed to extricate her alive.

The woman was rescued and conveyed for further medical treatment. Minutes later, Felix was called back to the first site, where the rescue was still underway. “We were in the middle of a situation assessment, and suddenly they ran to me and told me that they needed my help at the previous site after the teams broke into perform an assessment and medical treatment because the teams detected signs of life. So I entered the ruins and finally reached a man about 60 years old who was conscious. I performed medical tests, and when I realized it was possible - together with the team - we started to pull him out while he was conscious.’

Over six days and at the end of complex rescue operations, the members of the Israeli delegation, including a paramedic and director of the emergency department at MDA Felix Lotan, managed to rescue 19 people from the ruins, including a father and his children from the destroyed buildings. But on the 7th day of the mission, the delegation members were called to stop the search - the chances of finding survivors alive were very low. “We are folding our temporary base,” said Felix with mixed emotions, “It was an amazing job, and we saved a lot of lives, but we would have been happy to save many more. So I am returning to Israel to help understand how to prepare and implement the treatment methods conducted here in Turkey during the last week if, God forbid, a disaster of this magnitude will happen in the State of Israel.’ www.facebook.com/mdaisrael

Source: Pamela Price