SEMSUR - The nurses, who were among the health workers who came to Semsûr voluntarily after the earthquake, said that they were trying to solve the destruction experienced together with the people against the state's abandonment of the people of Semsûr.

 

Semsûr was one of the 10 cities affected by the earthquakes, the epicenter of which was the Bazarcix and Elbistan districts of Mereş. As the cities were heavily affected by the earthquake, the people of Kurdistan, who could not receive sufficient help from the state within the scope of search and rescue efforts and subsequent processes, are trying to rebuild their own lives with their own organized power. The people, who turned Yenimahalle Djemevi into a gathering place and a hospital in Semsûr, are trying to weave life with solidarity. Women, members of the Health Workers Union (SES), who are volunteer nurses here, talked to our agency about the technical problems they experience and what they need for treatment.

 

'A crisis that could last for 6 months'

 

 The newborn nurse, who is a member of Wan Ses Branch, stated that when the earthquake occurred, she first moved from Wan to Dilok and from there to Nurdoğa, where many demolitions took place, but that she could only work in the maternity hospital there for one day due to the prohibitions there. The nurse later stated that they came to Semsûr as a result of the joint coordination of the TABIP Chamber and SES, since no work was carried out in Semsûr. The nurse said, “We have created a place in Yenimahalle Djemevi so that it can be a medicine cabinet and an examination room. This is how we try to send help to all people. There are many volunteers who want to come. Because there is a crisis that can last for 6 months. There are babies and elderly people on the streets, we try to meet their health needs," he said, adding that most health workers did not start working as a result of their assignment. The nurse said, “There are 300 volunteer nurses in Van, none of them were assigned. Some of the people who come are giving their resignation and coming.”

 

'We collect medicines with the support of neighboring provinces'

 

 An anesthesiologist nurse, a member of SES, said that she was brought to Adana with many nurses, but the planning progressed later on in an uncoordinated manner and they were able to come to Adıyaman as a result of their insistence. The nurse said, “Adiyaman was deliberately left to its own fate. Previously, they had blocked two trucks leaving from Ağrı and Patnos on the entrance route. People bring aid with their own vehicles. As this is the case with pharmaceuticals, we are in contact with our volunteer pharmacists one-on-one. The package is being sent. Now dressings are needed. I need drugs against miscarriage. We recommend tetanus to people with rusty, irony wounds, but tetanus is not available as an injection. We need antibiotics. We collect medicines with the support of the surrounding provinces,” he said, adding that they need many medicines because they send medicines to villages and neighborhoods with the teams they have established.”

 

Social pressure also affects women during the earthquake.

 

The nurses stated that women usually apply to them for bleeding due to stress during pregnancy, and stated that the traumas experienced by women have an effect on their physiology. Nurses said, “Women are the ones who suffer the most. They are trying to protect their children, their baby in their womb, this psychology is too heavy for them. In the first days, pad needs and gynecological diseases were hesitant to be told. Even with a problem like this, people are hesitant to say it. This is a very deplorable situation. When we saw this, we said that we especially needed pads. After they were sent, we distributed them to villages and neighborhoods," and added that women were the most victimized group in the earthquake.

 

The Ministry of Health only inspects

 

 Expressing that another need is portable toilets, the nurses said that the toilets are not hygienic due to the bursting of the water channels, and that this will cause more illness in the future. Nurses said, “There are places created by the Ministry of Health, but they are only dressed and sent. A couple of people just came and when we went, they did their dressing, examined them and said to take your medicines from somewhere else. Then they come to us to take their medicine. "There is a coordination problem here.”

 

The people would either be a solution or be left to their fate.

 

 Emphasizing that the people's self-government has emerged again, the nurses underlined that they see themselves as a solution power as the people see that the state does not get them out of the chaos. The nurses stated, “People would either have a solution or be left to their fate, so we resorted to this solution in order not to leave it to its fate. We will transfer this place to the next teams and go to Maraş, Elbistan, Pazarcık.”