France will deploy a field hospital and 83 additional rescuers in Turkey, where the toll of the earthquake, which shook the south-east of the country on Monday, February 7, continues to increase, the Gard firefighters said on Tuesday. head of this mission.
This mobile hospital “
will be autonomous for a minimum of 15 days and will be able to provide, in addition to other lighter care, 10 to 15 surgical procedures per day
”, specified in a press release the firefighters of Gard.
Hospital based in the Gard
The structure of almost 2000 m2 has a delivery block, two operating blocks, a laboratory, a pharmacy, a sterilization room and a resuscitation unit, as well as treatment rooms. reception and follow-up of the wounded, according to the same source, which specifies that its deployment could be extended if necessary.
It is within the framework of aid to Turkey decided by the European Union that the French civil security department, which depends on the Ministry of the Interior, decided to send this hospital which, "
for historical
” is “
stored
” in this department of the south of France, told AFP the communication manager of the Gard firefighters, Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Agrinier.
83 rescuers with Escrim
A reconnaissance mission will leave Marseille on Wednesday, February 8 in the morning, with the particular task of determining the location of the hospital, known as the "
Element of rapid civil security for medical intervention
", or "
Escrim
" abbreviated.
A team of 83 rescuers will follow “
Thursday or Friday
”, taking with them around 60 tonnes of equipment.
Twenty-three firefighters from the Gard will be part of this detachment, including the mission chief doctor Isabelle Arnaud, accompanied by a surgeon, two emergency physicians, a pharmacist, two midwives, eight nurses and 11 logisticians.
The other rescuers are soldiers from the civil security lifeguard unit (UIISC 7) based in Brignoles, in the Var.
Read alsoEarthquake in Turkey and Syria: in the ruins of Antioch, the complaint of the victims awaiting help
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced on Monday February 6 the dispatch to Turkey of 139 first aid workers.
The last deployments of Escrim date back to the Covid pandemic, where it was engaged in Guyana, in June 2020, then in Mayotte, in January 2021, to support local hospital structures.
The earthquake that occurred before dawn on Monday killed thousands in southern Turkey and neighboring Syria, according to still provisional reports.