“It is necessary to consider preventive and protective measures before disaster strikes; once it has occurred, lamenting serves no

purpose.”

Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK

When an earthquake or a similar natural disaster occurs, all systems established for normal life collapse within minutes. While the struggle for survival begins for the earthquake victim, for those who are both victims and healthcare professionals, survival is accompanied by the challenge of keeping others alive as well; those difficult minutes are followed by hours, days, and even weeks. These are the times when everyone exerts superhuman effort, filled with moments where critical decisions must be made within minutes to save human lives. For us as physicians in particular, these are often periods when, in order to save a patient, we are forced to sacrifice the patient’s limbs or other organs, times when we enter an incredible battle between science and conscience, burdened with memories, or rather nightmares, that we can never forget throughout our lives. These are times that leave us forever torn between the questions: “Could it have been done better?” and “If only I had tried, at least I could have saved the life.” In pursuit of answers to these questions in the light of science, we set out with 46 of our esteemed colleagues working in different hospitals across 15 different cities. As a result of a long-term effort, we have brought forth this book by drawing upon the knowledge and experience of our distinguished colleagues who have lived through the bitter reality of earthquakes and have conducted studies on disasters such as earthquakes. With the wish that it may shed light and provide guidance to all our physicians in the face of future earthquakes that may confront both our country and the world.

Prof. Dr. Önder KALENDERER
İzmir Tınaztepe University, Faculty of Health Sciences,
Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology,
İzmir, Türkiye

Assist. Prof. Dr. Erkan SERVET
Gaziantep University, Faculty of Medicine,
Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology,
Gaziantep, Türkiye