The 'dehydration' detail in the İskenderun martyrs: A vital warning from an expert!

Seven soldiers at the Naval Recruit Training Regiment in the İskenderun district of Hatay were hospitalized with complaints of high fever.

Two of the soldiers hospitalized, Hayrullah Halit Karaman and Semih Erdoğan, were martyred due to extreme fluid loss.

Initial autopsy examinations indicated that the cause of death for the two soldiers was "multi-organ failure due to extreme fluid loss."

MSB'S STATEMENT

In its statement, the MSB said, "The initial autopsy report determined that the cause of death was multi-organ failure resulting from sodium levels in the blood caused by extreme fluid loss (dehydration)."

The MSB announced that the health status of the 5 soldiers continuing their treatment in the hospital is good and that an administrative investigation has been launched into the matter.

One of the martyred soldiers, Semih Erdoğan, was laid to rest in his hometown of Giresun, while Hayrullah Halit Karaman was laid to rest in Istanbul.

The barracks mates of the martyred soldiers explained that they had been rehearsing for a long time for the oath-taking ceremony and that some of their friends had spent the night in the infirmary following the tragic incident.

CHP CALLS FOR A PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION

The Republican People's Party (CHP) argued that the events were caused by a lack of precautions and reacted against the authorities.

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel demanded the establishment of an investigation commission in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, calling for the source of the "weakness and negligence" to be determined. Özel stated, “As a result of the government's poor management, Turkey has unfortunately become a country of easy deaths. However, it is unacceptable for the TSK, the apple of our eye, to be brought to this state.”

Özel also recalled that 12 soldiers lost their lives due to methane gas in a cave in northern Iraq three weeks ago, stating, “Whoever failed to take the necessary precautions and neglected their duty must have their responsibilities revealed with transparency, and necessary actions must be taken through fair processes to ensure these painful events do not happen again.”

CHP Group Deputy Chairman Murat Emir, who is also a doctor, reacted with the words, “These lands became a homeland with the blood of our martyrs. But now we are losing our children in the barracks, not on the front lines, due to negligence!”

İYİ Party deputy and general surgery specialist Turhan Çömez tagged the Ministry of National Defense on his social media account and said, “The details of this incident must be known by the public, and those responsible, if any, must be held accountable.” Çömez also stated, “How were these young soldiers exposed to fluid loss? There is only one explanation. They ran or trained in an extremely hot atmosphere and their bodies lost water. It shouldn't happen, but let's say it did. In such a situation, our healthy and young soldiers should drink water. Why couldn't they get water? This question needs to be answered.”

WHAT IS DEHYDRATION, WHICH DRAGGED THE SOLDIERS TO DEATH?

Following the MSB's announcement that the cause of death of the martyred soldiers was dehydration (extreme fluid loss), Prof. Dr. Başar Cander, President of the Emergency Medicine Association, said that dehydration is “the body's inability to get the fluid it needs or losing that fluid.”

Speaking to BBC Turkish, Prof. Dr. Cander stated that an adult individual should take between 2500-3000 cc of fluid daily.

“If they cannot take this fluid or if there is diarrhea or excessive sweating – which can also be seen in diabetics – the fluid going to the organs decreases, and the kidneys are among the most affected organs. The functioning of the kidney is impaired,” said Cander, expressing that dehydration can be experienced in three stages: mild, moderate, and severe.

Emphasizing that the brain and heart can be affected in severe dehydration, Cander said that deaths due to fluid loss can occur in just a few hours:

“The most important risk factors created by fluid loss are exertion during the hours when the sun is at its peak. Dehydration is usually accompanied by heatstroke because the sun is what causes the loss of fluid.”

Prof. Dr. Cander added that it is of vital importance to intervene with cold water for people suffering from heatstroke and to provide fluid supplementation orally or via serum.