American College of Emergency Physicians
Aid for Earthquake in Turkey and Syria
Dear ACEP and SAEM members,
We have been watching with great sorrow the aftermath of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Many of you may be looking for ways to aid in the humanitarian response, so we would like to provide some general guidance.
Decades of disaster response experience have shown that locally-led disaster response is the most successful. While international organizations are doing much work in Syria and Turkey, small organizations with deep roots in these communities play a critical role.
Even with these locally trained staff, international support remains critical. Medications, supplies, and funding remain in short supply. We encourage members to help support the earthquake response in an organized and professional approach.
We discourage self-deployment. People who go to a disaster area without being part of a trained, organized team risk compounding the disaster by getting lost, getting sick, or getting hurt - consuming resources that could otherwise be spent on the medical response. It is unwise and dangerous to go to a disaster zone alone. If you want to go, make sure it is with a reputable organization with long experience with disaster response and/or a deep history of working with the affected population. Ideally both.
Instead, members who want to help can support organizations already on the ground. These organizations can always use financial support to continue to care for the sick and injured, and some are accepting volunteers. Though we are not able to provide a comprehensive list of organizations to support at this time, we provide a few links below for your information:
We will continue to work with our domestic and international members and other organizations to keep you informed of the evolving situation and to help you find ways to help.
Sincerely,
ACEP’s International Section
ACEP’s Disaster Section
SAEM’s Global Emergency Medicine Academy (GEMA)
