Challenges faced by Bitlis province emergency health workers in disaster response: A qualitative study on the case of Kahramanmaraş earthquake

After the February 6, 2023 earthquake centered in Kahramanmaraş, health personnel assigned to Adıyaman province faced multidimensional challenges during the disaster response process. This study provides qualitative data to understand the current situation by describing the experiences of pre-hospital emergency health services personnel in this process. The limited number of studies in the literature that directly address the experiences of healthcare professionals working in the field after a disaster constitutes the starting point of the study. Semi-structured interviews with 19 health personnel assigned from Bitlis Provincial Health Directorate were evaluated by thematic analysis method; the analysis process was carried out with MAXQDA 2022 software. The findings show that the challenges experienced during the disaster response process are concentrated in themes such as transportation, communication, access to basic needs, coordination deficiencies, job description ambiguities and social interaction. At the same time, participants also offered solutions for logistical support, disaster training, mission planning and inter agency cooperation to increase response capacity. The findings point to the importance of taking field experiences into account in disaster management practices and provide a direct basis for improving pre-hospital emergency health services during disasters.