Swiss rescue workers in Turkey: ‘The gratitude of the people is enormous’

Less than a week ago, Simon Braun’s workplace was a complete mess. Together with more than eighty other helpers from Switzerland, he searched for survivors after the violent earthquake in Turkey and Syria. For a few days now he has been back at his actual workplace, the desk. In an interview, the 38-year-old looks back on the intense week.

It starts with a text message on Monday morning, February 6, at 5 am. The Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA) is looking for members who will travel to Turkey on the day of the massive earthquake as part of the rescue team. To ensure the safety of its own team on site and to be able to estimate the risk of collapse of existing buildings, the corps also provides two civil engineers. One of them is Simon Braun from Winterthur.

After a brief discussion with his wife and the employer, Braun agrees. It is his first assignment as a member of the SKH, of which he has only been a member since 2022. «In my professional life I am intensively involved in earthquake analyzes of existing buildings in Switzerland. So it quickly became clear to me that I could contribute here as part of the team,” says Braun.

The Swiss rescue chain assembled its team within hours and flew to Turkey on Monday evening, equipped with tents, rescue equipment and medical supplies. Braun and the other helpers will spend the night at Adana Airport, from where they will be driven to the city of Antakya early Tuesday morning. The rescue chain sets up camp for the helpers just outside of town. Sleep in tents.

Antakya is part of Hatay province, an area where the earthquake caused particularly severe damage. “When we got a picture of the situation on Tuesday, there was total chaos. Thousands of people ran through the streets, screaming, crying and desperate for relatives,” Braun recalls. “The magnitude of the destruction is unimaginable.”

The Swiss team is assigned a neighborhood where they must use drills, picks and the help of sniffer dogs to search for hidden persons under the rubble. Before rescue operations begin, Braun assesses the safety of the damage site: “I checked which buildings may collapse – also because of the aftershocks – and which areas are too dangerous for search operations.” According to Braun, the focus has always been on the safety of the helper team.

For four days, the team worked in 12-hour shifts – divided into two groups and in the freezing cold – looking for survivors. The helpers follow instructions from family members, but also respond to survivors’ acoustic signals, such as shouting or knocking. Braun reaches his limits, he is not once close to tears: “There was a situation where we knew that there was a mother with her baby and grandfather under the ceiling of a building. But the support structure looked very bad, I could exclude the risk of collapse.” After a long evaluation, Braun decides to place so-called struts under the ceiling to stabilize access to the victims. The quest ends successfully: all three can be saved.

What Braun remembers most is the gratitude of the survivors: “As we were carrying a mother and her baby out of the rubble on a woolen blanket, she suddenly held my hand. It was an indescribable feeling, the gratitude of this woman and the local population was enormous. » On the other hand, Braun also has to learn to deal with disappointment: “If we had to tell a family member that the search was too dangerous or not possible for other reasons, it cost me every time.”

The rescue team is aware that the chances of survival are decreasing by the day. By Friday evening, the Swiss rescue chain will be able to save 11 people, including two babies. “Even though we have been through a lot of sad things. The feeling of being able to give these people a future is incredible,” says Braun.

Since his return last Monday, the civil engineer has been able to “process what he’s been through quite well” in conversations with other team members and people around him. There’s only one thing that still puts Braun on alert: “If something shakes, I’m immediately back in action.” Nevertheless, one thing is clear for Braun: “I want to continue my commitment in the future. Even though these assignments are a lot more risky and emotionally demanding than my work in the office, it makes me happy to be able to help people in need in this way.” (aargauerzeitung.ch)