The activities of Turkish Civil Defence Search and Rescue Units from 1986 to 2007

Objective: The objective was to determine the activities of Civil Defence Search and Rescue (SAR) Units. Methodology: This descriptive study was conducted at the General Directorate of Civil Defence in Ankara, Turkey, from July 8, 2008 to August 15, 2008. The data were derived from the end-duty reports of Search and Rescue Units which were available from 1986 to 2007. The descriptive statistics were presented as frequency and percentage distributions. Results: There were 1306 end-duty reports. Erzurum Search and Rescue Unit had the highest number of activity (237, 18.1%), whereas Izmir Search and Rescue Unit had the lowest number of activity (32 activities, 2.5%). Of the activities, 1011 (77.2%) took place from 2004 to 2007. In earthquakes, on the average, 29.8 personnel per incident were on duty. In the traffic accidents the average number of personnel who responded per activity was the lowest (5.8). All of the personnel were deployed to incident sites via ground transport. In the floods, the highest number of victims (846 victims, 40.2%) were rescued. The highest number of bodies were extricated in earthquakes (642 bodies, 37.8%). The total number of days passed in the activities was 2672. Of the 1306 activities, 655 (50.1%) were search and rescue. Conclusion: This paper for the first time revealed the activities of Search and Rescue Units in Turkey. The information provided will be useful for the Search and Rescue Units, national and international organizations which are involved in disaster response.