American rescue worker who is currently in Turkey explains the current situation in the devastated areas

A rescue worker from the D.C. area who is helping earthquake victims in Turkey talked about how important it is to give those who are trapped emotional support.

A rescue worker from the D.C. area who is helping earthquake victims in Turkey talked about how important it is to give those who are trapped emotional support.

A few days after the earthquake hit, Dr. Murteza Shahkolahi helped pull survivors from the rubble.

Shahkolahi said, “We think about the more obvious medical problems, but we also care a lot about the patient’s mental and emotional health.”

Shahkolahi is a member of Virginia Task Force 1, a team from Fairfax County, Virginia, that responds to natural disasters all over the world. He said that the first time you talk to a trapped survivor, you should try to give them hope.

Shahkolahi said, “We’re giving them a lot of emotional and mental support to help them get through not only the immediate rescue, but also the hours and days that follow.”

Often, the first thing that survivors want to know is if their families are safe.

Shahkolahi says that if they do have family members who are safe, rescue crews should pay attention to that.

Shahkolahi said, “Being able to confirm that a family member is waiting for them gives them the drive to get through this very sad situation.”

The Associated Press reported that on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that more than 35,000 people had died in Turkey because of the earthquake last week. This makes it the deadliest natural disaster since the country was founded 100 years ago.

Even though the number of people who died could go up even more, many of the tens of thousands of homeless survivors are still struggling to meet basic needs, like finding a place to stay warm in the bitter cold.

The number of confirmed deaths in Turkey is now higher than the number of people who died in the big Erzincan earthquake in 1939, which killed about 33,000 people.

Erdogan said that 105,505 people were hurt by the quake in Kahramanmaras on February 6 and its aftershocks. Nearly 3,700 people have died in neighboring Syria, bringing the total number of deaths in both countries to over 39,000.