Essex
SAR Team Deployment to Turkey
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Essex
SAR Team Deployment to Turkey
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Introduction
On Wednesday the 18th Aug @ approx. 11.30 am the Essex SAR team were mobilised to attend the earthquake that had occurred in Turkey at approx. 0300 hrs the previous morning.
This was an unexpected mobilisation as the 1st teams on call had already been dispatched.
After contacting or leaving messages for all the Essex team members the following five personnel were able to attend within the given time.
Stn O Beale
Stn O Jackson
Sub O Ferris
Sub O Jewell
L/FF Hewett
Call out and equipment
The planning department headed by DO Cahill and the stores department headed by John Hindley collected appropriate equipment and prepared transport to get the team to RAF Lynham by 1600 hrs.
Fortunately, SFCoP Val Pluck managed to negotiate the use of an RAF Sea King to ferry the team to RAF Lynham.
This enabled the team to arrive quickly and fairly fresh. A full list of equipment can be obtained from the stores department and recommendations for alterations to this equipment are included in the recommendation section at the end of this document.
The RAF Sea King arrived at Brentwood school playing field at 1500hrs, all the gear was loaded and the team departed for RAF Lynham. This was with the exception of Sub O Ferris who traveled by car some hours earlier to pick up his personal gear from his home in Dorset.
The following teams led by SDO Muir from Kent departed from RAF Lynham at approx. 2030 hrs. in the back of an RAF Hercules C130 Transport plane. The journey to Istanbul airport took approx. 6 hours.
2nd Deployment consisted of SAR teams from: -
Essex, Kent, West Midlands, West Sussex and Hampshire.
Working In Country
The team arrived in Istanbul at approx. 0400 hrs local time (2Hrs ahead of Standard Time) On arrival in Istanbul the teams were delayed somewhat due to local travel difficulties, with these sorted out they arrived in Yalova some 4 to 5 hours later. The journey to Yalova included an hour's trip by ferry across the Sea of Marmara.
A police escort took the convoy of three buses to the crisis center in Yalova itself. Here, SDO Muir was given a number of locations to search. An interpreter and local guide were also provided. The teams quickly got to work in the town of Yalova. The searching here proved unsuccessful in locating live casualties. The team then moved on to a major area, which had yet to be searched, Ayden Kent
Ayden Kent was a collection of holiday condominiums. Five story flats, each floor with approx. 20 flats. Nearby was a particularly large block of flats which had completely pancaked. Immediately on arrival a doctor and paramedic were requested at this location. Search teams were also deployed throughout the site under various team leaders.
A suitable base camp location was found and this was set up when it became clear that the teams would be here some time. Throughout the remainder of the day and into the night searching and digging continued.
At approx. 1400hrs the next day (Friday) the team pulled out and relocated to Cinarcik which lays approx. 1 hour to the West of Yalova.
At Cinarcik a large site consisting of six collapsed, seven story blocks of flats each with eight flats per floor confronted the team.
It was known that 225 people were missing here. Several teams had already deployed here, all but the Israelis had moved on though.
A number of international dog teams had searched the top stories of these flattened buildings. People were continuing to be pulled from the collapsed buildings, one just 1 hour before the arrival of the combined fire service team.
Three teams, Essex, Kent and West Midlands started a methodical search. The base camp was set up at a suitable location overlooking the site.
Some hours later, with exhausted dogs, negative results and frustrated teams it was reluctantly agreed upon that there were unlikely to be any further live casualties in these buildings.
The teams were withdrawn and rested. Everyone at this site was informed where the fire service team were if any signs of life were heard or seen through the night. Sadly as dawn broke it became apparent that the search and rescue phase of this natural disaster was just about over.
A decision by the Turkish Government and the overall team leader saw the withdrawal of the teams to the British Embassy in Istanbul. Here the team rested for the night and left for the airport at approx. 1230 hrs Sunday the 22nd Aug. after a debrief in the grounds of the embassy.
Return to the UK
The flight from Turkey Landed at Heathrow at approx. 2030hrs after a refueling stop at Ostend. After unloading and a short debrief by the Fire Inspectorate Staff, all teams made their way home.
Results of the Deployment
The 2nd deployment of SAR Teams were instrumental in the rescue of two live casualties and assisted in the rescue of nine others. They were also involved in the location of numerous fatalities.
Recommendations
i) Day and night call out systems to be honed so that there are specific lists of equipment for specific types of call out. i.e. Mudslides, earthquakes, floodings.
ii) A new type of container/bag for transportation of equipment should be provided.
iii) The following tools, small gear and personal kit should be re-evaluated and improvements sought.
Working overalls, Knee pads, Identification badges/system, General purpose helmets, Personal hand Tools, Utility belt, Torches, General-Purpose lines.
Conclusions
The experiences gained by the team are both immeasurable and invaluable. Each team member will now be able to bring an improved contribution to his regular workplace.
While only a small number of casualties were rescued by the teams an unquantifiable good has undoubtedly followed the team throughout its work in Turkey. Not least of which, was the confirmation to people outside buildings that in fact their relatives were dead, thus allowing their grieving process to start.
The lessons learnt by all, back up staff included, also ensures that a better equipped and more efficient team will be deployed to the next disaster, wherever it may occur.
