Home » The Archives » Chapter 9 » Regrouping and Recouperation
| Re: Regrouping and Recouperation [message #153 is a reply to message #152] |
Sun, 22 July 2012 19:28   |
artisticrainey
Messages: 1228
Registered: July 2012
Location: Northern Ireland
Karma:
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Field Commander
Switzerland |
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"Welcome back to International Rescue -- The Year's Amazing Rescues." Ned smiled slightly at the camera, and nodded just a touch. "Just a few days ago, International Rescue faced one of its toughest challenges. While events were in motion high over the Earth that resulted in danger to the International Space Station, the IR operatives were busy digging out a very special group of people from the aftermath of a violent tornado. Here with the details is MWAN's Gavin Belle."
The scene changed to that of a parking lot with a large, destroyed building behind it. Jeff, clutching Dianne's good hand, frowned at the sight. "That's the school?"
"Yes," Dianne said, bringing up her hand, and leaning her head so that she rested against the back of Jeff's hand.
Gavin Belle walked into the camera's view, and motioned toward the building. "Behind me, you see the remains of Murray Gill High School, in the little town of Murray Gill, Kansas. On Saturday, August 4, this sports field was the site of a Special Olympics Challenge Day. A group of special-needs children, all under the age of seven, had gathered - along with their parents, caretakers, and several troops of Boy Scouts -- for a day of outdoor competition, where everyone was a winner.
"At around 11:30 a.m., the town's tornado sirens went off, and Murray Gill's mayor, Tom Riverton, organized the evacuation to a place of safety: the school's basement."
Gavin moved to his left, and standing there was Tom Riverton. His name and title appeared at the bottom of the screen. "Mayor Riverton, describe for us the retreat to the school's basement."
"Well, Gavin, it was hard to be heard over the winds, but we got the crowd started in the right direction. Able-bodied people were carrying equipment and the Scouts were helping the parents get their children moving toward the school. Suddenly, we could hear the twister coming. I ordered everyone to pick up those kids, and run for it!" He turned to point at the hole left by IR's digging machines. "We all headed for the doors that used to be there. It was a really close call; the tornado ripped through just seconds after the last man was inside."
"Were there injuries? Fatalities?"
"There were injuries but, thank God, no fatalities. The worst of the injured was Michael Hart, who was buried under some rubble. We located some battery-operated lights and the uninjured men and older Scouts started carefully digging him out. The nurse who had come for the day started to assess the injuries, and did what she could to stabilize those who'd been hurt. Several people tried to call our emergency services with their cell phones, only to get busy signals or no connection at all. Finally, one of the Scoutmasters, Brian Guillaume, gave me his radio, and suggested we call International Rescue."
The pictured shifted once again to show another man, dressed in a neat shirt and tie. "Standing next to Mayor Riverton is Henry Dolan, one of Murray Gill's structural engineers. Tell us what happened next, Mr. Dolan."
"Well, the mayor here managed to get a call out to me after he got hold of International Rescue. Told me to get some plans of the school for them. I also got a front end loader and a couple of bulldozers over to the school to do what we could while we were waiting for IR. We hadn't been working more than ten minutes when that Thunderbird One showed up. I talked to the pilot and gave him the plans. He told us to keep at it; that anything we did was a help. The second ship, the big green Thunderbird Two, took a little longer to arrive, but once it did... man! Did they get to work fast! They had all kinds of equipment and enough people, I guess, men and women both. There was this one gal standing on top of the debris, guiding the big grabs from Thunderbird Two as it pulled some of the bigger pieces off. Took some guts to do that, I'll tell you. And it didn't take them too long to get inside."
Gavin moved again, and the camera pulled out to reveal Lynne Feller, who smiled nervously. Her name and title appeared at the bottom of the screen, the letters "R.N." displayed prominently.
"This is Lynne Feller, the nurse who was responsible for first aid at the Challenge Day. Ms. Feller, can you give us your side of the story?"
Lynne clasped her hands in front of her. "Well, I had pretty much triaged and treated everyone I could, including Mr. Hart, who seemed to be unconscious. Still, I could only do so much and some of the children were really hurting. We all cheered when IR broke through. The first person they sent in was one of their nurses. He was very professional in every way. They had the most amazing equipment; a stretcher that floated on air, it seemed! It didn't take them long to get everyone organized. Every child was given a bracelet with a code printed on it, and their ambulatory equipment, whether it was wheelchair, walker, or crutches, was given a matching one. That way they could pull the children out first, and the equipment wouldn't get mixed up once it was all gathered together. The Scouts did a great job in helping to carry the kids out while IR kept the way clear." She smiled. "There was this one husky, dark-haired IR gent who always had a smile when he was working with the kids. Always a good word, a little joke; he'd make a terrific father. I was proud to be working with them that day."
The screen returned to Gavin, who held a piece of paper in his hand. "Michael Hart, a local entrepreneur whose name has been mentioned more than once in this broadcast, is still hospitalized, and he is expected to make a full recovery. Earlier today, he gave me this statement: 'I have long been a supporter of International Rescue, and of what they do. From the bottom of my heart I thank them, not only for rescuing us all from the basement of the school, but also for the hope they bring to people all over the world every day. Their motto is: 'Never give up' and I sincerely hope they never do'."
Gavin nodded to the people who were standing next to him. "Ms. Feller, Mr. Dolan, Mayor Riverton, thank you for speaking with us today." They murmured their responses, and moved off to their left, out of camera range. "Back to you, Ned."
Ned appeared on camera once again. "After these messages, we'll go back to Kansas -- and Gavin -- to give you the details on how two simultaneous rescues became a horrifying three."
The commercials came on, and Jeff turned to Dianne. She was looking anywhere but at the screen... or at him, so he got up from his seat, sat down on the edge of the bed, putting himself between her and the televid screen. He reached out and he cupped her face with his free hand. "Are you up to this?" he asked. "I can always turn it off, see it later on at Drew's."
"I... I don't know," she murmured, finally looking up at him. "I guess we'll see."
Post by Tikatu on 11/25/2006
  
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