Crossing rivers and lakes, jumping into fire to save people

Face the danger

After more than 5 years of working in the rescue field, Lieutenant Ho Dinh Khanh - an officer of the Police Team No. 1 for the Fire and Rescue Department - cannot remember how many cases he has directly participated in. However, for some specific cases, he remembers in great detail from the time of occurrence to the situations during the mission.

Scenes of some fires in the province in early June 2020. Photo: Archive

A typical example is the fire at 3:57 a.m. on November 6, 2019, at Tan Thinh apartment building, Le Mao extended street, Vinh Tan ward (Vinh city). Lieutenant Khanh recalled that upon receiving the news, the unit dispatched 1 command vehicle, 3 fire trucks, 1 water truck and more than 40 officers and soldiers to the scene.

When arriving, the electrical system in the Technical Room of the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the apartment building was on fire, a large amount of toxic smoke covered the entire hallway and open apartments of the apartment building. Hundreds of people were trying to escape in a state of panic and congestion, many people were trapped.

Faced with that situation, the rescue team immediately deployed forces, directly rescuing more than 20 people, including many elderly people and children; guiding hundreds of people to safety; and simultaneously deploying fire fighting plans. At about 4:20 a.m. the same day, the fire was controlled and extinguished. At this time, the rescue team continued to organize smoke evacuation in the corridors and apartments affected by smoke.

The scene of the search for the victim buried during the process of digging a well in Thanh Ha commune (Thanh Chuong). Photo: Diep Phuong

Lieutenant Khanh said that not every incident can save people, because in reality many incidents are too late. At those times, what rescue soldiers can do is to try their best to find the bodies of the victims, contributing to sharing the pain and loss of the family, such as the case of the well collapse in Thanh Ha (Thanh Chuong), the case of 3 students drowning in Thanh Tuong commune (Thanh Chuong)...

Sharing the same thoughts with Lieutenant Khanh, Lieutenant Colonel Le Thanh Binh - currently Deputy Head of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department, who is considered by his colleagues as a "good marksman", good both on land and underwater, recalled: On the afternoon of May 24, 2019, in Thanh Ha commune, while digging a well, Phan Van Su and Phan Van Duong were buried. Only one person was rescued in time, while Duong was trapped below.

Upon receiving the information, the department deployed forces to the scene. The victim was buried under mud about 4m deep, making it difficult to carry out rescue operations. Not to mention the location where the victim was buried was unfavorable, the well digging area was rough, and there were electric poles around, so the deployment of vehicles was somewhat affected.

After coordinating with local authorities to use excavators to create space and a favorable ground for search and rescue, the team divided into working groups, one group went down to the well to dredge and scoop up mud and soil, and one group stayed on the ground using a winch to pull up each bucket of soil. The groups took turns working all night. After nearly 7 hours of searching, it was not until 10 p.m. that day that everyone was able to bring the victim's body to the surface.

Rescue forces discuss search plan for 3 drowned students in Thanh Tuong (Thanh Chuong). Photo: Archive

According to Lieutenant Colonel Binh, while search and rescue work on land is difficult and dangerous, underwater rescue is many times more difficult and arduous. Because in most underwater rescue cases, the victims have died or gone missing for many hours. The panic of the victims' families also partly affects the psychology of those on duty. On the other hand, in the underwater environment there is no safe distance, it is very dangerous. Moreover, the search area is large, the water currents are continuous. In addition, diving to search for victims always has to face needles, broken pieces of pottery, obstacles or whirlpools...

Underwater searches always face numerous difficulties. Photo: Archive

Always ready to perform the task

If in the past, the Fire Police force only participated in rescuing people and property when a fire broke out, since 2012, they have had the additional task of rescue and relief in incidents and accidents such as fire, explosion; landslides, rock falls; house and building collapses; traffic accidents; drowning accidents... Therefore, with a force of only over 200 people, 9 regional teams, both undertaking fire fighting and rescue work throughout the province, the entire force is always in a state of hardship and pressure.

Accordingly, units must always ensure readiness in terms of personnel and means, and organize a 24/7 standby to receive and process information. Whenever receiving a report, officers and soldiers, whether they are eating or sleeping, must immediately set out, regardless of day or night, rain or shine. “Always ready but afraid. Afraid of the phone ringing, afraid of the siren, because when those sounds ring, somewhere the lives and property of the people are being threatened”, that is the common feeling of most officers and soldiers doing rescue work.

Training is regularly carried out by officers and soldiers working in search and rescue. Photo: D.C.

Sharing with us, Lieutenant Phan Trong Son - Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Team on the river said that each incident has a different complexity. Normally, with traffic accidents and labor accidents occurring on land, the rescue work will be more or less convenient because it can be observed with the naked eye. From there, it is possible to cover and predict the developments at the scene, accurately determine the location of the trapped victim to come up with appropriate and quick rescue plans.

However, with underwater search and rescue work, visibility is more limited, so it is difficult to determine possible dangerous developments. Diving underwater, you cannot see anything, do not know where you are, on the shore you cannot see people below, only communicate with a snorkel. Walking on the bottom of the river is like being lost in a "scrap warehouse". The only way to search is to use your hands and feet to crawl under the cold mud, which is full of unexpected dangers.

Rescue forces rescue a truck driver in an accident that occurred on National Highway 1A, in Quynh Xuan ward, Hoang Mai town at 2:00 p.m. on June 1, 2020. Photo: File

Not to mention, in accidents, the victim is partly in pain and partly in fear, so their psychology will be affected. In such situations, the rescue soldier also takes on the role of a psychological expert, trying to encourage and reassure the victim to calmly follow the instructions of the authorities. In addition, the case of controlling "stoned" subjects is even more complicated. Because after using "stones", many subjects fall into a state of paranoia, unable to control their behavior. They not only endanger those around them but also endanger themselves.

For example, the case of Le Ngoc Ha (born in 1985), residing in Hong Son ward (Vinh city), due to family conflicts, carried her son born in 2017 to climb onto the roof of a boarding house on Nguyen Thuc Tu street, Tan Hoa block, Vinh Tan ward in November 2018. Despite unsuccessful persuasion, the force had to continuously move the inflatable buoy dozens of meters wide along alley number 2, Nguyen Thuc Tu street and finally caught the child after his father threw him onto the corrugated iron roof.

With the view that tools and equipment must be used daily to be proficient enough to operate quickly in practice, this is the work that the department leaders carry out every day. Photo: D.C.

Talking to us, Lieutenant Colonel Le Thanh Binh - Deputy Head of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department (Provincial Police) said: The work of a rescue soldier is hard and has high pressure, because incidents can happen at any time. To do their job well, each officer and soldier must have a love for the job and the courage to quickly handle situations. Therefore, along with the training work divided into 2 periods a year with high intensity, the training curriculum is increasingly difficult, political and ideological education is considered a prerequisite to train brave, resourceful, courageous soldiers who are not afraid of difficulties, hardships, and are ready to face all dangers.

Although it is difficult and hard, but determined to "take on the job", the CNCH soldiers all said that "people run out, we run in, it is like instinct. Because we always determine that the rescue mission is to do good for life, so we always try our best to complete the assigned tasks well".

However, the biggest concern of those working in search and rescue today is equipment. Because in reality, with the means mainly coming from aid sources, there is a lack of synchronization, not to mention that there are means according to regulations that are "out of date", which greatly affects the rescue work, making their tasks more difficult.

According to the statistics, in 2019 alone, the rescue force of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police carried out 48 rescue operations, searched and rescued 59 people, and found 37 bodies. From the beginning of 2020 to May 15, the rescue operation was completed in 9 cases, searched and rescued 51 people, and found 7 bodies.