Digital Response to Physical Crises: The Role of an E-Health Platform in the 2023 Southern Turkey Earthquakes


AKBAŞLI İ. T., SERİN O.

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, cilt.18, 2024 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 18
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1017/dmp.2024.63
  • Dergi Adı: Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, PASCAL, CAB Abstracts, CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: disaster management, electronic health, electronic triage, public health risk assessments
  • Hacettepe Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The catastrophic earthquakes that struck Southern Turkey in 2023 highlighted the pressing need for effective disaster management strategies. The unprecedented scale of the crisis tested the robustness of traditional healthcare responses and highlighted the potential of e-health solutions. Despite the deployment of Emergency Medical Teams, initial responders - primarily survivors of the earthquakes - faced an enormous challenge due to their lack of training in mass-casualty situations. An e-health platform was introduced to support these first responders, offering tools for drug calculations, case management guidelines, and a deep learning model for pediatric X-ray analysis. This commentary presents an analysis of the platform’s use and contributes to the growing discourse on integrating digital health technologies in disaster response and management.