Analysis of the aeromedical evacuation of victims from the Syria-Turkey earthquake in 2023

A major earthquake occurred in Syria and Turkey on the 6th of February 2023. As part of the humanitarian response, the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNAF) team was tasked to evacuate earthquake victims from the Kahramanmaraş region in Turkey. The aim of this study was to analyze the demographic characteristics and medical conditions of the earthquake victims who were transported during the aeromedical evacuation by RNAF C130 aircraft in February 2023. We retrospectively analyzed the transport records and other documents relating to 247 earthquake victims, 98 of whom were patients, including demographic data, symptoms, diagnoses, injury areas and survival. The mean age of the earthquake victims transported was 43.13 ± 19 years, the youngest passenger was 14 months-of-age and the oldest was 90 years-of-age. Of these, 98 (39.7%) were patients, 118 (47.8%) were relatives of patients, and 31 (12.6%) were health care and military personnel who were being relocated from the region. The majority of the transported patients (n = 72, 73.5%) had extremity injuries. The most frequent intervention applied to the patients was analgesia (n = 111, 11.2%). No deaths occurred during transfer and for the following three-month period. This study, the first from Turkey, analyzed the aeromedical evacuation of victims from the 2023 earthquake in Syria and Turkey. In order to prepare for aeromedical evacuation flights in the future, training exercises should be conducted, a communication plan should be developed, an in-flight patient placement plan should be prepared, and a special team of personnel should be formed.

Earthquake; Aeromedical evacuation; Natural disaster; Injury

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