At the center of an incredible tragedy in Turkey, despite the circumstances, there are several lives. Buried in the rubble of destroyed buildings, survivors are still waiting to be rescued and are being rescued by a team that includes firefighters from Swansea and Haverfordwest.
UK International Search and Rescue (UK ISAR) is a team of 77 firefighters from across the UK who volunteer to go to international disaster sites for any event. On Monday, they received a call saying, “They are going to Turkey to help save people from a devastating earthquake,” an earthquake that has claimed 24,000 lives.
“There is no typical day, but there is a typical ISAR technician who will work to find solutions to problems,” says Phil Irving, usually a surveillance manager at Haverfordwest. “It’s this attitude that makes us one of the best teams in the world… it’s not arrogance, I’m just proud to be a part of it. The desire to save people, show them compassion and try to alleviate their trauma runs deep. “
READ MORE: Turkish Welsh community raises funds to help earthquake victims
Phil and his colleague Steve Davies (Deputy Manager of the UK ISAR team) talk to WalesOnline on a mobile phone while working in Hatay Province, in southeastern Turkey. Both have been with ISAR for 17 years and it is clear that they are incredibly proud of their team. ISAR was deployed just five hours after the earthquake and since then, day in and day out, it has been a tough choice and an incredible act of bravery.
Phil recalls, “From the moment we left, we had search teams working with dogs, doing quick checks and searches of destroyed buildings where we put a dog to see if we could find any survivors there. If we do, we pay much more attention to property: surveying, digging, tunneling.
(Image: ISAR)
“It was very difficult this week because the teams were going through many houses where family members were outside trying to get the boys and girls inside the building, but we had to say that it was not possible to survive and the dog was not going to be hit and move on to the next buildings to find as many people as possible. It was the most difficult for the team, who had to do it several times”.
As we talk on the phone, Steve and Phil’s voices are occasionally drowned out by screams in the background. They’re at the crash site, where crews patrol the tunnels and talk to us in the brief moments they’re off duty.
The team has done important work, but the “window of opportunity” to save people is rapidly closing. Deputy team leader Steve explains: “We got six people out alive and, unfortunately, a few dead ones. Six wounded alive, one of them was a two year old baby with mom and dad.
“Now we are working on two more. The window of opportunity to save life is rapidly closing, and it probably should have closed by now, but people have managed to survive for a long time, longer than you might expect. Perhaps. because it hit at night, where people were in bed and had access to bedding.”
(Image: ISAR)
Steve, a 51-year-old father of two, usually lives in Swansea. He explains the composition of the team in Turkey: “Basically, we are a team of volunteers from many fire and rescue services across the country. They are mainly firefighters, but also the specialized medical team and the search dogs that we have with us on this mission.
“This time I came in as part of the team and the management team, so I helped do some of the background work, part of the international communication, coordination, making sure the teams got into the right area. he was on site when he could, supervising and assisting work groups in the city.
“Actually, the two of us are sitting next to a destroyed skyscraper that we are digging a deep tunnel through because we have a confirmed hit on a police officer and an associate who were there for five days. We’ll tunnel deep into the building.
Steve has seen a lot in his career, but in Turkey he sees “the most dramatic events” he has ever witnessed. “I’ve been to Japan, Phil’s been to Haiti and Indonesia,” he says. “We probably have someone on our team who’s been through every major disaster in the last few years, and everybody I hear from says this is the worst they’ve ever seen. It’s pretty scary, to be honest.”
(Image: ISAR)
Steve says he feels you “never” really measure up to what you end up seeing working at ISAR, but says he has some “good friends” and the team looks out for each other.
Phil’s role is a little different: he works as a security guard and ensures the safety of the entire team. This also includes helping the team understand Turkey as a country: “Basically, I have to try to keep everyone safe in terms of travel arrangements, making sure they are safe on the ground, just collectively making sure people understand the culture. ”. that the Turkish people are going through an emotionally traumatic period”.
We asked Phil if there’s anything important that stands out to him about living on the front lines of this disaster. He says: “I am personally impressed by the resilience of the Turkish people, their compassion and empathy for those of us who came to their aid. They lost everything. I always wonder how people have this ability when they really are in the worst moments of their lives.
An example of this is a story. “We arrived at the building and there was a lady sitting outside by the fire. She was eating a small piece of cake and all she had on her back were her clothes. One of our officers approached her and she immediately led our officer to the fire and broke off a piece of cake. It really gives you faith in humanity… there are moments that stick with me.”
It’s clear, even over the phone, that Phil gets emotional talking about the people he works with. “It seems to me that with every challenge we face… we come to a country and we have to get fuel and water and we have a number of people responsible for that. The tenacity of finding the vital resources to make our base of operations work… warms my heart.
“They don’t give up. These things are hard to come by and they just won’t let go until they happen. This applies to the entire team. We won’t give up until we get the right results. in a prime position to try and alleviate the emotional and physical trauma that people are going through.”
Phil says support from home (friends, family, colleagues) has been “hard to quantify” but “we wouldn’t be able to do what we do if [support] One way to quantify this is the six-figure sum that the Welsh government has donated to ISAR’s efforts, which, according to social justice minister Jane Hutt, “will go towards providing urgent aid to people whose survival needs can be met”. .
It’s been tough at times, and working at the heart of a disaster that claimed so many lives can make leaving family behind in Wales even more painful. Phil is married and has an eight-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter.
(Image: ISAR)
“My daughter and my wife are very mature and supportive of the role,” he says, adding, “Unfortunately my son, who is eight and shadows me, was a little upset about it, and I understand that, but it’s breaking my heart. heart because I love him dearly… it takes a bit of management, that part.’
However, it is quite clear what makes him go further. “Honestly, when I joined the fire department, all I wanted was to help people. I always looked for additional and challenging things at work. Being out of your comfort zone, you develop.
“When I discovered ISAR, I checked a lot of options about what I wanted to do with my life and I love helping people. This is a departure from our usual SOS role where you can show up and someone is having a bad time and you can make their day a little bit better.
“I know that’s a ‘soft’ answer, but it’s true: I enjoy helping people.”
Meanwhile, the Emergency Response Committee and its local partners are ramping up aid deliveries in Turkey and Syria as donations to the Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal reached £1.7m in Wales and £52 million, £0.8 million in just two days in the UK. The total includes a £5 million grant from the UK government and a £300,000 grant from the Welsh government.
DEC Cymru External Relations Manager Cian Stephen added: “We are already seeing a number of events being organized and fundraisers across Wales in support of the appeal and we want to say a huge thank you to all the organizers. We know these are tough economic times and yet the response from the Welsh public to our appeal has been incredible. We sincerely appreciate every contribution, no matter how small.”
Source: Wales Online
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
