‘As long as there’s a minute chance of survival’: SCDF team in Myanmar presses on with quake rescue

CHALLENGES

As they race against time, rescuers in Myanmar are also operating under tough conditions.

One of the challenges the team faced was the hot weather. “It is 41 degrees (Celsius), so we had to institute a certain work-rest cycle in order to keep ourselves going for the prolonged ops and we also need to hydrate ourselves very frequently,” said Col Tay.

The contingent was also one of the first teams on the ground and was requested to start work immediately, so it had little time to set up and establish communication with its base camp, he said.

However, the morale of the officers are “extremely high”, said Col Tay. The welfare of the personnel was also taken care of as it was eventually able to set up its base camp near a hotel, enabling the team to use facilities such as the function room and car park.

“In general, the mood is very focused on our mission at hand.”

SAVING A LIFE

Sharing their experience on rescuing a man from under a collapsed building on Sunday after an eight-hour operation, Col Tay said it happened at just the second site the team went to.

At first, what they saw worried them.

“The first site that we visited, there were residential buildings and what we observed was that the second floor came down to the first, and the first floor completely gave way,” he said.

“We were thinking, if all the buildings were like this, it would be a significant challenge for us to conduct any search and rescue ops.”

When they arrived at the second site, to their surprise, the man was able to respond despite him being in a “precarious position”.