Posted by PS on September 13, 2001 at 00:29:40:
Yes, I sent a 64 man USAR Team (Urban Search and Rescue) to New York
last night. This is a team trained to enter into areas that are
unstable and of immanent danger. However, immediate entry is
necessary in hopes of saving lives. The USAR firefighters have the best
chance of any personnel available to enter into the disaster and remove
material piece by piece to see if it possible to find anyone alive. Even
when they do find life, they must then support that life and remove it from the
rubble without bumping into the wrong thing and causing a collapse.
The major problem they face, other than time, is the danger of
collapse. They know going in that no matter how carefully they remove
objects that impede their progress, there is a possibility they may also
become a victim.
The heavy equipment you see on television that is moving into the area is
there to support the USAR Team. Of course, if you let a crane begin
pulling steel and rubble out of the pile, you are certain to cause a cave in and
end any hope of life deep inside. That is why the USAR Team goes in first
and makes their way down in an attempt to pull out the living by tunneling
their way through the twisted steel and cement at a pace that is faster than is
safe. But they know their job is to push the envelope. It is
the only hope that some child we still have a parent at the end of that
day.
Most people couldn't begin to fathom the responsibility these guys feel
towards saving lives, even at the cost of their own. You can't see, you
can't breath and after a while you are not even certain where you are deep
inside this mass of death and destruction.
I am staying home while the younger, stronger guys head to New
York. However, I know what they are about to go through. During the
Northridge earthquake that happened years ago here in California, I took a team
of 8 men into an apartment complex that had partially collapsed. While
deep inside, an aftershock hit and the rest of the building came down.
Only five of us came out.
I hope this answers the many questions that I have been asked over the
phone and on e-mail concerning the possibility of finding any victims still
alive. I know that if anyone has a chance to save human life, it is
this group of heroes. These guys are my family and I love them. I pray
they all come back home to me.
Donn Paben