Time is running out in Syria and Turkey. Authorities estimate that there are still thousands of people trapped under the rubble, but the chances of finding survivors are reduced every second. There is a key time: 2:00 a.m. (Spain) this Thursday, just 72 hours after the first tremor on the Turkish-Syrian border, a turning point in the discovery of life under the collapsed buildings.
The rescue teams work hard analyzing some of the characteristics of the collapsed structures to try to find survivors. In this way, they examine whether the cracks are horizontal or vertical and map the situation in real time, being able to coordinate on the ground the places in which to search for trapped victims.
They take into account physical and biological factors such as, for example, that a man generally survives longer than a woman due to having more body mass, or that children have a better chance of surviving in the first hours because size plays in their favor. . However, after the first few days, their chances of survival diminish, since his organism does not yet have as many reserves as those of an adult.
Options, however, are narrowed down for basic survival issues. Despite the existence of oxygen bags that allow earthquake victims to stay alive, after 72 hours surviving without water intake is much more unlikely. Water removes toxins from the body, prevents infections and filters waste in the form of a liquid, so its absence for a long period of time ends up causing death.
In addition to the impossibility of covering the most basic needs, it is added that the trapped people who have managed to survive without eating or drinking for more than three days They have to withstand temperatures of up to -6 degrees outdoors.
In addition, after the strong earthquakes and aftershocks, many of the people trapped they could have suffered injuries incompatible with life. Being immobilized reduces the chances of survival by the crush syndrome: the blood stops circulating to the extremities and, when the weight is removed, the toxins invade the body and prevent it from reacting.
Desperation grows because in some collapsed buildings the voices of survivors can be heard, but they cannot be helped due to the lack of specialized equipment. “No one in the city can enter any building due to the danger of collapse. Going to the toilet, something so far simple, is a very big problem. There is no water at home or at gas stations,” they explain on Turkish television HalkTV.
Among the more than 6,000 collapsed buildings in Turkey, there are areas that have not even been accessible due to complications derived from the destruction of accesses and snow. Thus, in hundreds of collapsed buildings, no rescue team has arrived and people plead for help under the ruins.
In Syria, war is a new stumbling block to a time that advances against the clock. There, some citizens complain that volunteers cannot arrive due to the conflict that has plagued the country for more than a decade. Many areas of the country remain without access due to the destruction of transport routes.
The representative of the World Health Organization in the country, Iman Shankiti, stressed that “the health needs are tremendousespecially for a country that has suffered for 12 years (the civil war) and has been hit by different emergencies, including the current earthquake”.
With this situation, some of the latest generation tools to be able to find survivors cannot arrive either, such as the drones that have been sent by numerous countries, including Spain. This type of instrument recognizes the terrain at low altitude providing photos and detecting human heat thanks to thermal cameras and therefore, they are very useful at a superficial level.
Other search methods
In addition to satellites and drones, Technology capable of analyzing inaccessible terrain has already been put into operation. This is the case of ‘Finder’, a device designed by NASA, which locates sounds underground, such as heartbeats or breaths.
It began to be used in an earthquake in Nepal where it allowed the rescue of four men who had been trapped for days under two different structures and they did it thanks to the sound of their heartbeats.
In addition, in emergency situations like these, private companies also help to find missing persons. Facebook, for example, has facial recognition programs with a reliability that exceeds 97%.. This technology makes it possible to search hundreds of thousands of photos published by users in search of a particular face and put ‘big data’ at the service of the authorities.
Another essential tool is the gps. It is used to geolocate an injured person, through their mobile, but it is also used by volunteers to prevent them from tracking places that other people have already searched for.
Source: Lasexta
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
