USAR Around The World
Turkey/Syria:
It has been a little over two months since Turkey/Syria were hit with two devastating earthquakes on February 6th, 2023. I am still having trouble processing the magnitude of this event. Partially because I feel so far removed from it, being here in the U.S. I feel the other reason is because the magnitude of this event was so big. Processing an event this big is like trying to comprehend our national debt. With numbers this big our brains can’t imagine the amount of devastation it caused. This quake has widespread effects covering nearly 140,000 square miles. That is comparable to roughly the size of Germany. 4 million buildings affected. The dollar loss is estimated at near $110 Billion USD… Billion with a B! None of these facts matter in comparison to the amount of life that was lost. While trying to write this I have to take a moment… I hope you do the same while reading it. 57,658 people. Fifty Seven Thousand, Six hundred and fifty eight people perished. More than 100,000 injured. No matter how I try to process this, the amount of pain inflicted from this single event is not conceivable. The quake lasted only 75 seconds. We find so much security in our modern lives. We trust so much in how secure we feel. Yet events like this remind us how precious life is. They remind us of what is truly important. So take a minute and smile at your neighbor, hug those you love, and appreciate the many wonderful things you have in your life.
In the wake of so much devastation and pain, is there still hope? Having just experienced the unimaginable, these countries now have to face the ever present reality of trying to heal, and starting to rebuild. To try and put some semblance of life back together. I have always found it strangely sad that it takes an event like this, to bring us together as people. To set aside our differences and work to help each other. I do not want to undermine the tragedy that took place in these two countries. But I also want to take a minute to think about, and thank, the massive response from around the world. People that dropped everything to go help. People that rushed in to help with Search and Rescue, Healthcare Workers, Volunteers, etc. There are estimates that 8,000 people were rescued in the first two days. Formal Search and Rescue Operations continued until February 19th. As the days progressed I kept wondering, how many more people will they find. Is there anyone else left? Then I would watch a video, or read a story, of someone being unburied from the rubble. Someone that had been trapped and is now given hope. Many canines and SAR personnel responded to assist in the mission. Because of this response, many lives were saved.
Urban Search and Rescue is a much needed reality. It is events like this that keep us plugged in. These are the reminders of why we train as hard as we do. Why we creatively push our canines into new and more challenging scenarios. We need to be as ready as possible when called upon. The aftermath of this tragedy, will inevitably bring new considerations for USAR. To put it simply, what went well? Where can we improve? What did we learn? Implementing these lessons learned into our practices, is the best way for our team to honor these beautiful people.
I encourage you to do a simple google image search, to see a glimpse of what these two countries are going through.
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