In the earthquakes that occurred one after another in the Pazarcık and Elbistan districts of Kahramanmaraş, it was observed that the search and rescue activities were insufficient in the first 72 hours, which are critically important according to international criteria.
In addition to the inadequacy of the search and rescue teams, the number of people who received professional training also caused controversy.
In the reports made available to the public by Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), it was seen that 7,238 people were working on a permanent basis, while thousands of people were given voluntary search and rescue training.
After the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquake, which affected 10 provinces in total and caused thousands of people to die, the country's search and rescue capacity is the focus of criticism.
While the foundation of the criticism of the 72-hour response, which is considered the most important in natural disasters, is based on the institutions, it is seen that the number of search and rescue teams in the country is not sufficient at this point.
While AFAD failed in class with the number and training of professional search and rescue teams, it was at the center of criticism due to the lack of coordination in earthquake zones.
INSTITUTIONS WERE NOT PREPARED FOR EARTHQUAKE
Turkey is trying to heal its wounds after the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes.
The inadequacy of AFAD teams, which had to start search and rescue activities in the area they covered as of Monday, February 6, when the earthquake disaster took place, and their late arrival in many regions, brought along discussions about the structure of the institution.
While it is read in the Strategy Report prepared by AFAD for 2023 that the number of search and rescue personnel is insufficient, there is currently a professional search and rescue team of 7,238 people.
On the other hand, it provided light - medium - high level search and rescue training to thousands of volunteers every year.
Despite all these figures, the AFAD Strategy Report states that "the number of personnel in the central and provincial organizations has not reached the desired level", which indicates the lack of search and rescue personnel.
Despite the inadequacy of the search and rescue teams, the coordination problem also dramatically increased the dimensions of the earthquake disaster.
According to international criteria, while it was of critical importance for the people who were under the rubble in the first 72 hours, it was seen that the search and rescue teams of AFAD could not reach the wreckage in sufficient numbers.
It was seen that AFAD, which could not send volunteer teams to the region despite the lack of professional teams, carried out search and rescue activities in a small part of thousands of buildings that were destroyed in the first day or two.
SEARCH AND RESCUE CAPACITY IS NOT ENOUGH
While more than 100 thousand buildings in total were destroyed in earthquake zones, the number of AFAD-affiliated search and rescue officers sent to the region is only around 7 thousand.
The number of people who have received professional search and rescue training by many non-governmental organizations, especially the Police Search and Rescue, (PAK) Gendarmerie Search and Rescue, (JAK) Coast Guard, is approaching 24 thousand.
With the arrival of 5,707 search-and-rescue personnel from 74 countries in the world, more than 29 thousand search-and-rescue personnel in total worked in the wreckage.
Considering the number of destroyed buildings in the cities currently in the earthquake zone, the capacity of search and rescue efforts can be seen in numbers.
WHY ARE FIRE AND MINERS LATE FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE?
Many of the city centers were destroyed in Kahramanmaraş, Hatay and Adıyaman, where the earthquake was felt strongly. In the cities where thousands of buildings were destroyed, the eyes were on the search and rescue teams.
However, most of the earthquake victims stated that search and rescue activities started on the 3rd day of the earthquake. While it was seen that the professionally trained manpower was insufficient, the question of why the firefighters and miners were sent to the region late arose.
There are currently around 350 thousand firefighters in Turkey. Teams that could carry out search and rescue work together with the miners in a planned organization had to be dispatched to the region quickly.
The inadequacy of the number of firefighters and the fact that a significant part of the miners were sent to the region on the 4th and 5th days of the earthquake was seen as the biggest shortcoming of the earthquake management process.