STORY: Motorbike ambulances stand by to save lives in Turkish cities
DATELINE: July 27, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:08
LOCATION: Ankara
CATEGORY: HEALTH/MEDICINE
 
SHOTLIST:
1. various of the team of motorbike ambulance on duty 
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Turkish): YUSUF YASIN DANISAN, Paramedic at Ankara's Motorbike Responders
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Turkish): YUSUF YASIN DANISAN, Paramedic at Ankara's Motorbike Responders
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Turkish): YUSUF YASIN DANISAN, Paramedic at Ankara's Motorbike Responders
 
STORYLINE:
 
Like most big cities in the world, Turkish metropolises are plagued by traffic jams. Motorbike ambulances have proved essential to provide emergency healthcare to patients in a matter of minutes.
 
In Kizilay, a busy commercial neighborhood in the Turkish capital of Ankara, two teams of motorbike ambulances always stand by to reach a patient in need, even when the traffic is congested, according to Yusuf Yasin Danisan, a motorbike responder.
 
Danisan said when medical emergency took place in an area difficult for a conventional ambulance to get through, he would ride the motorbike with a colleague and respond to the situation while the ambulance is on the way, which increases the likelihood of survival in critical conditions.
 
SOUNDBITE 1 (Turkish): YUSUF YASIN DANISAN, Paramedic at Ankara's Motorbike Responders
"We come here (Kizilay) in the morning after picking up our motorbike ambulance at our center. We respond to all cases without making a distinction, and all calls made at 112 (emergency) can be dispatched to us. We serve as a triage team in case of a car accident and first responders in other cases. If it's a severe case, motorbike and land ambulances are dispatched at the same time. As we come first we urgently make the necessary intervention and then leave the case to the land ambulance. Motorbike ambulances are active in about 60 towns in Türkiye."
 
The motorbike usually carries an emergency medical technician and a paramedic, as well as life-saving equipment like a defibrillator, offering initial treatment free of charge, according to Danisan.
 
If the case is deemed serious by the on-spot healthcare providers, the patient is taken to the nearest hospital in a four-wheeled ambulance.
 
SOUNDBITE 2 (Turkish): YUSUF YASIN DANISAN, Paramedic at Ankara's Motorbike Responders
"We have between 10 and 15 cases a day, and most of them do not need an ambulance, thus we prevent unnecessary ambulance dispatches. In Ankara, we race against time to reach patients in need. When there is a traffic jam during rush hours, we are always on duty. Our teams have been fully trained to work on their own. Our motorcycles carry the same life-saving equipment as ambulances, including medicine, oxygen tubes, and a defibrillator, a machine used to restart a patient's heart when they have had a cardiac arrest."
 
Motorbike responders give life-saving information to doctors and determine whether patients should be picked up by an ambulance later. This helps non-critical patients save time and hospital travel costs.
 
Ankara is a city of over 5 million people and deadly car accidents occur frequently mostly because of speeding or drunk driving.
 
Motorbike responders are on duty in some 60 Turkish cities since their introduction in 2013 and additional teams are prepared by Türkiye's health ministry and the main emergency hotline system 112, according to the Ankara Department for Health Services, a public institution.
 
Driving in heavy traffic needs nerves of steel and the paramedic on motorbike have received special training for traffic safety, according to motorbike responders.
 
As most of Türkiye will be under the spell of a heatwave this week, according to meteorological reports, motorbike responders are expected to have a busier schedule.
 
SOUNDBITE 3 (Turkish): YUSUF YASIN DANISAN, Paramedic at Ankara's Motorbike Responders
"During the summer heat, the profile of our patients changes because of the heat. We particularly receive calls from patients suffering from heatstroke."
 
The global rise in temperatures has led to more extreme weather this summer in Mideast and Europe, including life-threatening heatwaves and flood alerts.
 
Temperatures are forecasted to surpass 40 degrees Celsius in the western and southern provinces of Türkiye later this week.
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Ankara.
(XHTV)