• Recep Dursun, Cemile Ayşe Görmeli, and Gökay Görmeli.
• Department of Emergency Service, Van Training and Research Hospital, Van, Turkey.
• Ulus Travma Acil Cer. 2012 May 1;18(3):260-4.

BackgroundOn 23 October 2011, an earthquake occurred in the city of Van, Turkey. This earthquake was an enormous devastating disaster and caused mass casualties. The descriptive analysis presented here serves as a reference not only for the present injury profile but also for future disaster response.MethodsThis is a retrospective study based on the medical records of earthquake victims admitted to Van Training and Research Hospital. The results were compared with the current literature.Results1582 earthquake victims (806 male, 776 female, mean age 36.9 years) were admitted to emergency service. 301 of the patients were treated with hospital care in different departments: 84 (27.9%) in orthopedics surgery, 40 (13.2%) in general and pediatric surgery, 26 (9%) in thorax surgery, 34 (11%) in neurosurgery, 56 (19%) in internal medicine, 39 (13%) in the intensive care unit, and 22 (7%) in other departments. The total number of deceased was 60.ConclusionTo minimize mortality and morbidity after earthquake disaster, immediate and effective triage should be done, and after the patients are transported to the hospital, individualized treatment should be planned according to the patients' respective clinical features. Coherent collaboration between many departments is vital.

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