PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — As the death toll and injuries climb following the devastating earthquakes impacting Turkey and Syria, some in Oregon are working to help those impacted in any way they can, including some boarding flights overseas to join in search and rescue operations.
“Disasters are never planned and they never happen in the most convenient times,” said Dr. Miguel Bautista, a division chief with Scappoose Fire District.
However, that’s not stopping some from being ready to go in less than 48 hours. Regional non-profit Empact Northwest provides rescue and medical support to disaster sites around the world, most recently called to hurricanes and even the war in Ukraine. Their latest call to serve came in Monday night from the Turkish government.
“We want to make sure we’re not just getting in the way, we’re actually needed,” said Bautista. “We don’t just show up on someone’s doorstep and say we’re here to help, because that just creates more chaos.”
By day, Dr. Bautista works with the Scappoose Fire District, but he also volunteers with Empact Northwest as a disaster medical technician, meaning, he’s already packed and heading to Turkey to help wherever he’s needed.
“There’s a large response to the epicenter of the earthquake, that’s good,” said Bautista. “But there are a lot of areas that are remote that are still not getting seen, there’s still people they haven’t searched the rubble for any viable patients that may potentially be buried.”
Others, like toe Oregon Turkish American Association, are organizing resources statewide to send overseas.
“We are so sad to hear (of) this earthquake, but now (we’re) trying to help the people of Turkey,” said Ozcan Ertem with the Oregon Turkish American Association. “Arrange any donations like clothes, blankets and medical stuff and have them shipped to Turkey.”
Ertem lived in Turkey during the last devastating earthquake in 1999 and says those impacted will likely need aid for months, adding the area impacted in this latest quake is roughly the size of Oregon.
“It took close to a year, maybe a year and a half to take all the rubble away and try to reconstruct infrastructures,” said Ertem.
As Bautista plans to hit the ground running for at least the next week and a half, the possibility of a future disaster in the Pacific Northwest isn’t far from his mind, and hopes this will encourage those locally to prepare.
“In the back of my mind, I would hope if something ever happened in our region, someone would be doing the same and dropping what they’re doing to come help us,” said Bautista.
Both the Oregon Turkish American Association and Empact Northwest are accepting donations to help those devastated by the earthquakes, as well as future missions, whether that be food and medical supplies or search and rescue efforts.