| To the Editor: On Saturday August 11, 2012, twin earthquakes
of 6.3 and 6.4 magnitude shocked northwest Iran,
mostly dominating the Ahar and Varzaqan areas.
Hundreds of deaths and thousands of injured created a
disastrous scenario, leaving legions of elderly adults
homeless.1,2 Emergency medicine and services for the victims
was considered the first priority within the first days
after the incident. Meanwhile, medical teams in the earthquake
zone had to address a new postemergency medical
problem; elderly victims and survivors, being unprepared
for such an incident, encountered deterioration in their
underlying chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes
mellitus due to unavailability of required medications.
Thanks to the lessons learned from the previous
devastating natural disasters such as the Bam earthquake,
rescue and medical teams were equipped with most necessary
medications for such occasions |