Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Victim Survival Time Now Critical In Turkey-Syria Earthquake Aftermath
AP: How Long Can People Survive In The Rubble Of An Earthquake?
How long can trapped people survive in the rubble of an earthquake? Up to a week or more, experts say, but it depends on their injuries, how they are trapped and weather conditions. Search teams from around the world have joined local emergency personnel in Turkey and Syria to look for victims from this week’s devastating earthquake that has killed thousands. (Tanner, 2/8)
Reuters: WHO Sending Medics And Supplies To Turkey And Syria Earthquake Zone
The World Health Organization is deploying expert teams and flights with medical supplies to Turkey and Syria after Monday's devastating earthquake. It will send a high-level delegation to coordinate its response as well as three flights with medical supplies, one of which is already on its way to Istanbul, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing on Wednesday. (2/8)
The Guardian: Turkey-Syria Earthquake: First Aid Convoy Reaches Syria As Combined Death Toll Passes 17,000
“The first 72 hours are considered to be critical,” said Steven Godby, a natural hazards expert at Nottingham Trent University, told Sky News. “The survival ratio on average within 24 hours is 74%, after 72 hours it is 22%, and by the fifth day it is 6%.” In previous quakes people have been recovered alive after 15 days under rubble, but subzero winter temperatures since Monday mean those who survived the initial tremor but are still trapped risk dying from hypothermia, doctors have said. (Henley and Sullivan, 2/9)
In news about radiation and the Hiroshima bombing —
AP: Court Denies Aid For Hiroshima A-Bomb Survivors' Children
A Japanese court on Tuesday rejected a damage suit filed by a group of children of Hiroshima atomic bombing survivors seeking government support for medical costs, saying the hereditary impact of radiation exposure is still unknown. A group of 28 plaintiffs whose parents suffered radiation exposure in the Aug. 6, 1945, U.S. atomic attack were demanding the central government include them in the medical support available to survivors. (Yamaguchi, 2/7)
