UK medical team waiting for flight to Turkey

Countries around the world are sending aid and teams to Turkey to help with the rescue mission

We've just heard from David Wightwick, of UK-Med, who's waiting to board a flight to Turkey where he'll lead the UK's medical response team there.




He says the initial crew of six people includes surgeons, paramedics, emergency medical staff and logistics staff. More NHS staff will likely join them, he tells Radio 4's Today programme, but it's important for them to arrive first and see how they can best help.




They don't want to take up too much space before they know what it is they can do to assist Turkish officials, he says.




Asked what it's like arriving in a disaster zone, Wightwick says it's "unsurprisingly chaotic, for fairly obvious reasons". He says teams like his usually face a litany of logistical barriers, such as closed roads.




"I've worked cross-border before in Turkey," Wightwick tells the BBC, referring to the damage in Syria, "the infrastructure was good then... whether that's still the case remains to be seen."




Source: BBC