The February 6th earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria have devastated millions, causing irreparable losses and pain. We would like to express our solidarity and willingness to contribute to the efforts of the crisis response. We’ve noticed outstanding activities from startups and the tech community involved in the rescue process and relief aid. From applying highly advanced technologies to localise survivors to coordinating aid and raising donations, here are some of these efforts helping those in need.
Specialising in emergency management and warning solutions, British startup Safe-Citizens deployed its technologies to ServeOn, a disaster relief and humanitarian aid organisation working in Turkey and Syria to assist with the crisis. This platform has allowed for real-time monitoring, live mapping, updates, and situational awareness to provide ServeOn personnel with the tools and information needed on the ground.
Sight Diagnostics’ OLO device requires only two drops of blood to quickly assess severity of injuries and increase survival rates. It has been deployed in the aftermath of the earthquakes to help rescuers working on the ground to accurately diagnose conditions of survivors and speed up the provision of medical treatment.
Turkish software startup Datapad was quick to mobilise a rapid response movement in the wake of the earthquakes, coined the “Earthquake Help Project” to support NGOs and rescue teams on the ground. This open source platform features a Discord channel to organise workstreams, an application to geolocate calls for help and display them on a concentrated heat map, and portals that collect offers of assistance and distribute information.
Israeli-founded startup Carbyne deployed its dashboard of high-resolution incident mapping and video to emergency responders on the ground in Turkey. This dashboard merges location services, live video chat, incident mapping and other communication cloud-based technologies, aiding real-time rescue and response efforts.
Founded in 2019 in India, Garuda Aerospeace offers a variety of services through it’s drone fleet, including agriculture, solar cleaning and disaster management. Garuda Aerospace has deployed their Droni Drone for surveillance in the most affected areas of Turkey in order to identify where victims could be trapped under rubble piles. They have also modified their Kisan Drone which carries payloads to help transport emergency medicines, supplies and food for victims.
Startups have proven their flexibility and willingness to put their boots on the ground and join the efforts in this crisis in many different ways, from transporting medicines and supplies to accurately diagnosing and mapping conditions of survivors.