水箱救援纽约长岛
THE INCIDENT
约翰·纳波利塔诺（John P. Napolitano）
At 1600 hours on the afternoon of March 7, 1997, the Lakeland (NY) Fire Department (LFD) was activated for a construction accident at MacArthur Airport, where employees of the Keystone Construction Corp. were working on the dome of an empty one million-gallon water storage tank. The first call didn`t give any specific dispatch information relative to the nature of the accident, the extent of the injuries, or the number of injured. At 1602, Dispatch transmitted that the incident was a structural collapse and several people were injured. Actually, four employees of Keystone were on top of the tank when it suddenly collapsed. The workers and thousands of pounds of concrete were pitched into the cold dampness below.
Assistant Chief William Ryan, Firefighters William Mahoney and Gerard Felitti, and I were at headquarters when the initial alarm was transmitted and were preparing to respond when the additional information arrived. An ambulance that had been returning from a previous alarm was already en route to the scene.
我开始位置,瑞安要求罗普e rescue teams from the Bohemia and Hauppauge fire departments. The two firefighters and Ryan then responded on Engine 2. While en route, Dispatch advised me that personnel from MacArthur Airport were on the scene.
到达机场时，我遇到了LFD消防员罗伯特·加利昂（Robert Galione），后者从他的家中做出了回应，并与我同时到达。我们是由平民导演的，通往事故现场。机场安全的一名成员告诉我，一名未知数的工人从空罐的屋顶上掉下来，目前正在麦克阿瑟机场坠机消防队（CFR）的两名雇员对待。两名CFR消防员约翰·卡尼（John Carney）和瑞安·托马索（Ryan Tomassone）大约在五分钟前降落在坦克中。
SIZE-UP
Now at the tank, I climbed to a safe location from where I could survey the tank, determine the extent of the collapse, and identify the number of victims. From this survey and information later learned, it was determined that the tank was constructed of concrete and rebar. It measured 32 feet from the top of the dome to the floor and was 107 feet in diameter. Its bottom had thick mud spots and several puddles of water. It was located on the southwest corner of the airport, approximately 125 feet from a perimeter gate. Through the pieces of concrete and twisted lengths of rebar, I could see three visibly injured victims lying on the floor inside the tank, the two CFR firefighters, and one ambulatory victim.
圆顶的屋顶类似于一个巨大的破蛋壳。只有一部分屋顶在储罐周围的周围保持不变。圆顶屋顶的一部分直径约为90英尺，在四名工人的重量下倒塌了。混凝土仍然从钢筋中悬挂。屋顶剩下的东西很明显。212英尺乘212英尺的舱口开口在墙壁附近的屋顶边缘。一个旧的木制脚手架梯子从舱口驶向坦克。这是CFR消防员使用的入境点。
The ground sloped up to within three feet of where the tank wall met the roof on what would become the exposure 1 side. Traveling clockwise around the perimeter, the ground gradually sloped down until, on the exposure 2 side, it reached the same level as the bottom of the tank`s interior. On the exposure 4 side, the ground began to slope upward again.
PREPARING FOR THE RESCUE
After donning his turnout gear, Galione met me near the hatch opening to quickly discuss the conditions. It was determined that this was a confined space situation but that atmospheric conditions were not a factor. Galione then entered the tank via the scaffolding ladder already in place.
我在Hatchway附近建立了一个通讯命令帖子。指示派遣人员优先考虑三位高级生命支持（ALS）救护车的响应。我还确认，我们需要莱克兰，波西米亚和豪珀省消防部门的绳索救援队。第一批ALS救护车和引擎2在现场到达；现在有四名接受过狭小的空间参与者训练的消防员现在正在现场。
消防员费利蒂（Felitti）和马奥尼（Mahoney）在脚手架梯子上放了一个便携式梯子，使其成为更稳定的进入坦克的方法。瑞安（Ryan）和马奥尼（Mahoney）然后通过这个梯子进入了坦克。随着越来越多的人员和设备到达，消防员/EMT-D Steve d`Agostino和消防员Ray Smith（训练有素的被限制的太空参赛者和护理人员）被命令进入坦克。现在，坦克中的所有救援人员都被训练为被关闭的太空人。他们中的一些人获得了紧急医疗认证。
我与坦克内部的救援人员的最初通信严格是确定受害者受伤的严重性以及促进其拆除所需的设备。决定将塔梯子用作高点锚。波西米亚消防局的要求。现场将几个带有液压和气动工具的重型救援单位被调用。萨福克郡警察紧急服务部门提供了该行动中使用的大多数绳索救援设备。
A staging area for rescue equipment and medical supplies was established near the point of operations so that they would be readily available. Incoming units also had to be staged so they could be tracked and controlled. We called for enough ambulances to cover each of the exposed rescuers as well as the victims. Backup confined space rescue and trench rescue teams were held in readiness. The units specifically requested (ambulances, rope rescue, the tower ladder, and so on) were permitted access to the site. All other units and personnel were staged at an area remote enough from the incident site so that they would not hinder the operation; all were available if suddenly needed.
PLAN OPTIONS
Plan A, which was not used, called for setting up the tower ladder on the exposure 2 side of the tank, where there was an open area of level ground relatively free of obstructions except for some medium-sized trees. The intent was to have the tower ladder place its platform over the top of the tank and use it as a high point anchor. The immobilized victims would then be placed into stokes baskets and hauled up one by one with a vertical lift and tag lines.
This plan was abandoned for several reasons. First and foremost, the method was unnecessarily risky. We would have had to lift the victims through a web of cables and reinforcing bars that crisscrossed through the open air at the top of the tank. Second, several trees would have had to be cut down to provide a clear path for the haul and tag lines. Not only would this have been time-consuming, but many of these trees were supporting what was left of the tank`s roof. A network of cables that ran underneath the sections of concrete had been secured to the surrounding trees–apparently in anticipation of future repairs on the tank.
I opted for Plan B, which would have the victims removed via the hatch opening (see the article on page 58). It had been determined that a stokes basket and victim could fit through the hatch opening the rescuers had used to enter the tank. The portable ladder already lashed in place would provide enough support to vertically lift the victims out. This method also required fewer personnel.
必须重新定位塔楼。它被放在12英尺高的建筑物的另一侧，该建筑物容纳了水箱的水泵。该建筑物在舱口开口的前面约20英尺（曝光1侧）。塔楼的能力增强了这个位置的吸引力。梯子本身的最大长度为111英尺。繁荣的最后16英尺是一个阐明部分。因此，当动臂倾斜到一定高度时，可以将平台“铰接”到目标。从本质上讲，塔楼能够爬上建筑物的一侧，向下沿另一侧。
While all of the victims` injuries were considered serious, the true extent of the injuries was not known until the victims were assessed and treated at the hospital. The three victims sustained extensive crushing injuries and multiple fractures. Two of them have since been released from the hospital and are recovering from injuries that included arm, clavicle, and pelvis fractures. The third victim was still hospitalized at the time this was written; he was in critical and unstable condition and had fractured vertebrae. The fourth worker caught in the collapse suffered only minor abrasions and contusions and left the tank under his own power.
LESSONS LEARNED
The importance of good communications can`t be stressed enough. The incident commander–who operated on the Lakeland Fire Department frequency–experienced difficulty in communicating with the many agencies directly involved in the operation. The Lakeland, Bohemia, Hauppauge, Holbrook, Nesconset, and Ronkonkoma fire departments; MacArthur Crash-Fire-Rescue; Suffolk Police ESU, and Sayville Community Ambulance were all operating in the immediate vicinity of the collapse site. Several radio frequencies were used; not all of them were initially available to the incident commander. The problem was resolved by appointing a fire coordinator to serve as communications liaison between the various agencies and the incident commander.
Immediately calling for mutual aid saves time and can save lives. Commitment to an operation should be made only when the personnel and equipment needed to bring it to a successful conclusion are available.
Training is essential. Familiarity with the equipment and each other will make any operation go more smoothly and safely. The time to realize you don`t remember a knot you learned six months earlier is not while you`re in the middle of a rescue operation. Regularly scheduled drills with other nearby rope rescue teams will reveal the capabilities and equipment that can be provided by each team.
Ensure that your equipment is in proper working condition and ready for rapid deployment. Test it at least once a week. Take care of your equipment so it can take care of you.
Finally, KISS–keep it simple, Sammy! Don`t opt for the more dangerous removal method simply because it is within your capabilities. The risk to operating personnel and victims is not worth it. A successful conclusion to a challenging rescue is satisfying, no matter how the story unfolds. n
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约翰·P·纳波利塔诺（John P. Napolitano）是莱克兰（纽约）消防局的负责人，他在过去的12年中任职，纽约市（纽约）消防局的六年退伍军人目前被分配给L-154的L-154皇后。他是受过训练的狭窄空间参与者，也是莱克兰消防局技术救援队的成员。
