Syzdekistan

I watched a little bit of the news coverage of today’s tragic bridge collapse in Minneapolis and was very concerned about the lack of safety gear worn by the rescue crews. I’m trained in swiftwater rescue and it is very important that rescue personnel don’t even get near the water without a PFD, helmet, and protective clothing (wetsuit, and gloves). I understand that this was a huge disaster and that the response may have been somewhat chaotic due to the scale of the collapse and the emergency response but there is no need to put rescuers at any more risk than necessary (35 firefighters have died during water rescues between 1993 and 2003 (link)).

I am also aware that the news coverage that I saw may have been focused on the two rescuers that were not properly equipped.Still, seeing a female rescuer checking partially submerged cars wearing no helmet or gloves (she may be wearing a PFD, it’s hard to tell) while what appears to be a police officer wearing nothing but his patrol uniform stands on the rubble looks very dangerous to me. I know our local fire departments and many police officers carry this type of equipment in their vehicles here in Las Vegas.

As for the disaster itself, it looks like a progressive failure of the bridge where one section fell and took down adjacent sections. My first impression is that there was a serious design flaw to allow for a progressive failure like this. It will be interesting to see what were the factors contributing to the collapse of the bridge.

Finally, my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this tragedy.