Elks Lodge Building COLLAPSE

It was about 30 minutes past shift change on June 26 for the crews of Golden Valley EMS when the call came over the statewide ambulance/hospital radio frequency for a building collapse with 50 victims.

     We knew something major was happening when they didn't call us on our direct line to dispatch, and we knew it was a signal to activate the hospital's emergency disaster plan. Several surrounding agencies also heard the transmission and prepared for our request for mutual aid.

     Our first truck was en route when the second truck's crew called the hospital supervisor to activate the disaster plan, contact dispatch to call all immediately surrounding agencies for mutual aid, and put additional backboards on the truck. As the second truck went en route, the first truck arrived on scene, did a scene size-up and contacted dispatch to request that the larger cities in the area send more mutual aid. At that time, we didn't know how many patients we had, how many were trapped or that the county's presiding commissioner was one of the victims who had managed to escape. It was the presiding commissioner who contacted our local emergency management director to have FEMA's MO Task Force One activated after declaring the collapse a disaster.

     On arrival of our second truck, we quickly established a triage/treatment area approximately 50–75 yards from the collapse, away from the anticipated operation zone. Then, with the assistance of police officers, we set up a temporary perimeter and searched for walking wounded in the crowd of about 500 that had quickly formed.

     While this was going on, the fire department was able to rescue two men from the building with a ladder truck and brought them to the "green" treatment area. Another man was removed from the building and classified as a yellow, placed in a spinal package, then transported to the hospital. A total of five men were seen almost immediately in the treatment area; four had been in the building and one in front of the building in a car that was partially buried under bricks and rubble. Two men refused transport; three were transported by our third truck manned by off-duty personnel who had been called in.

     With additional ambulances starting to arrive, we quickly determined our entrance/exit routes off the square. A short time later, two firefighters were brought to the treatment area with minor injuries (not directly related to the rescue effort) and also transported to the local hospital. We learned the next day that 14 people with minor injuries escaped from the building quickly, left the immediate area and went to the ED by private vehicle.

     After the initial rush, we met with the incident commander and learned that, of the 50 original patients, all but 10 had escaped. Nine were located close together, and one had been on the third floor by himself. The nine who were close together had access to a cell phone and had been able to give a partial report of their conditions, but the 10th man had not been heard from.

     The incident commander called for a sector commanders' meeting before any more rescue efforts were attempted, since the building was still shifting and we all needed to know the course of action that was being planned. At the command meeting, each area of action was assigned a specific radio frequency, with the command trailer being able to monitor and communicate with each section and relay pertinent information. Commanders were identified for each sector and the basic rescue operation plan was passed on. After the commanders' meeting, we went back to our respective sectors to communicate with our workers.