Kapronczay Károly szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 230-233. (Budapest, 2015)
ADATTÁR - Debrődi Gábor: Mentőállomás Konstantinápolyban
180 Comm, de Hist. Artis Med. 230-233 (2015) very important that local ambulance workers be equipped with all the knowledge necessary to perform successful rescue operations in Constantinople. The big day, the opening ceremony arrived soon, on May 13, 1911. The atmosphere was intense at the arrival of the high-ranking guests: the Turkish foreign and military ministers, the governor of Constantinople, officials of foreign embassies, public figures, doctors, journalists, inhabitants, and members of the local Hungarian colony. The rescue presentation was successful; and at the end of the ceremony, Pasha Széchenyi was presented with Great Gold Medal Award of the BVAS by President Count Karátsonyi. The Pasha was fighting his tears while thanking the president. The pasha said: “This medal has ever so much value for me, because there are Hungarian words carved on its surface, it was given to me by a Hungarian, and it reminds me of my Hungarian homeland. ” The new ambulance station was organized on military basis, as the local fire station. Its equipment was stored in the Taxim Barrack, while the station itself was situated in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy’s Hospital. The patients were transported to the hospital’s special admission department which was headed by Dr. Erlich, chief Chirurgie, who previously held the same position in Vienna. Non-Austro-Hungarian patients were transported to other hospitals after receiving first-aid treatment. The ambulance workers were trained soldier-fire- fighters, who protected the city of fires and disasters, and performed the local inhabitants’ life-saving. The news of the success the new ambulance station created great sensations in both Turkey and Hungary. The Turkish Cabinet Office sent telegrams to the Austro-Hungarian king, Franz Joseph I (1848-1916), the crown prince, Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914), Archduke Joseph (1872-1962), who was protector of the BVAS, and also to the Hungarian Prime Minister, Károly Khuen-Héderváry (1849-1918). Some days later, the Turkish emperor, Sultan Mehmed V (1909 - 1918) met the Hungarian delegation. On the same day, Crown Prince Yusuf Izzettin (1857-1916) met them, too. The establishment of the first Constantinople ambulance station was a great success, which was a result of the teamwork of Turkish officers and Hungarian ambulance officers and doctors in 1911. We owe our gratitude to our great ancestors.
