What Do Patients Seek Care for at a Health Facility in the Aftermath of an Earthquake? Experiences From an Emergency Medical Team in Türkoğlu, Türkiye 2023

On February 6, 2023, a strong earthquake (7.8 Richter scale) shook southwestern Türkiye, and also affected areas in northwest Syria, resulting in over 50 000 fatalities and more than 100 000 injured in Türkiye, in addition to the displacement of approximately 3 million people. In response to an international request for assistance from the Turkish government, the United Kingdom (UK) government deployed an Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Type 1 to provide outpatient care. This report describes the type of medical conditions treated at the facility from 1 week to 3 months post-earthquake. Consultations and diagnoses were recorded using standardized UK EMT patient records and reported through the WHO Minimum Data Set (MDS) format. A total of 7048 patient consultations were documented during the deployment.The majority of cases involved infectious conditions, primarily respiratory illnesses, rather than trauma. Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, were also prevalent, particularly among adults and older patients. The report outlines some recommendations to better adapt data collection in order to improve EMT preparedness for future earthquake responses.