Injuries and emergency department visits without building destruction after Gokceada earthquake in Canakkale, Turkey

Purpose. To examine and suggest some solutions for health problems related to fear and anxiety at the moment of earthquake and to present how it affects working amount of emergency services despite having no destruction due to earthquake. Methods. Patients admitted to emergency services due to symptoms related with earthquake but not destruction in Canakkale earthquake on May 2014 were enrolled the study. Information about patients was gathered from hospital data system and patients' files. Results. Following the earthquake, 101 patients were admitted to Emergency Services with earthquake related symptoms that were not related to destruction. 68.3% of patients injured while running, 19.8% of patients were severely injured after jumping from a high place, 9.9% of patients admitted to the emergency services with fear and anxiety and 1.9% admitted with chest pain. Conclusions. Even if there is no destruction in earthquake, people may behave improperly at the time of earthquake due to fear and anxiety causing serious traumatic and non-traumatic health problems. Earthquakes increase the workload of emergency departments even without destruction. The present study emphasizes the importance of behavior education of community during earthquake, early activation of hospital disaster programs and education of health care providers in natural disasters.