team members picked their way carefully up the disaster site, bringing with them a Stokes basket. The heavy-duty moulded plastic stretcher had handles and strap attachments along the top of its raised sides. A first-aid kit and other equipment was ferried up inside the basket.
It took twenty minutes to get close enough to actually start extricating the survivor. A change in the amount of light available to the team was an indication of both weather deterioration and approaching dusk but the teams worked on with steady determination. The line and hail search was now nearing the end of the last sector of this site. If no more victims were found they would probably have to deploy search dogs to try and locate anyone else confirmed to be missing.
‘Wendy—we’re really close now. It won’t be much longer.’ Fletch had taken over the reassurance of their patient. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Not too bad. I’m going to be really glad to get out of here, though.’
‘Can you move or feel your legs at all now?’
‘I’m not sure.’ The sound of coughing was magnified by the sheet of iron still covering Wendy. ‘I don’t think so.’
‘Does anything hurt?’
‘No.’ Wendy coughed again. ‘This plaster dust is the worst thing. It keeps falling on my face.’
The top of the corrugated-iron sheet had been cleared of debris. As they lifted it, their patient raised her arm to shield her eyes from the light. Fletch moved closer, catching hold of Wendy’s wrist to feel for a radial pulse. Kelly knew he would be assessing her respiration at the same time and they all watched as he conducted a rapid survey to check for any obvious injuries or blood loss. ‘Let’s get a C-collar on,’ he ordered. ‘And line up the Stokes basket directly below us. We’re going to need to keep spinal alignment when we move her.’
Kelly and Joe had attended many spinal injury patients in their careers in the ambulance service but it had never been this awkward to try and immobilise and extricate them. The stretcher had to be positioned to remain stable and every move the team members made had to be planned in advance and checked to keep themselves safe as well as ensuring that any injuries to their patient weren’t exacerbated.
Once Wendy was securely strapped into the basket stretcher, the progress was still slow as the rescue team manoeuvred their burden down the slope. It took seven people to conduct the operation safely. Two people positioned themselves in front of the four people holding the stretcher basket. When all team members were secure enough to move their arms without losing their footing the stretcher was passed handhold to handhold until the two people at the back were free of the burden and now standing behind the stretcher. Then those two people moved carefully under the watchful gaze of the scout to position themselves ahead. Slowly, metre by metre, the stretcher was moved smoothly towards the base of the slope and the safety of waiting emergency service personnel.
As Kelly moved to a new position at the head of the stretcher for the fifth time she heard a shout from the team members still searching. Joe stared up the slope for a few seconds before nodding. ‘Another survivor by the look of it.’
‘Thank God for that,’ Kelly murmured. ‘I think we’ve all had enough of this for the moment.’ She shoved her hand into the slot at the head of the stretcher. The gloves made the task a lot more awkward but at least they were providing some warmth as well as protection. Her legs were freezing.
Fletch was moving behind her. ‘Why did you volunteer for USAR if you don’t like it?’
‘I didn’t volunteer, actually.’ Kelly watched Fletch reach level ground. Their task was almost complete. ‘Somebody volunteered for me.’
Joe’s eyes crinkled behind the plastic safety goggles as he grinned. ‘That’s true. She made the mistake of turning up in the boss’s office on her first day at work. I was in there, having just discovered that my intended course partner had broken his leg and wouldn’t be able to make it. Kelly had her arm twisted very thoroughly.’
‘Your friend must have heard about the course.’ Damp auburn curls were plastered against Jessica’s cheeks. She looked cold and exhausted as she changed handholds. ‘A broken leg seems like quite an attractive alternative right now.’
‘You think you’ve had it tough! This mask was useless for keeping the dust out and I thought you guys were never going to find me.’
‘You were in there for a long time.’ Kelly gazed back at the mountain of debris as they lowered the stretcher to the level ground. ‘Rather you than me, Wendy. Did you see any rats?’
‘Rats!’ Dark blue eyes widened dramatically behind the safety goggles. ‘Nobody said anything about there being rats around here.’
Joe was unclipping the straps that held Wendy securely in the Stokes basket. ‘It’s a rubbish tip,’ he reminded her. ‘Rubbish tips are always full of rats.’
‘OK, that does it.’ Wendy sat up and lifted her goggles to sit on the brim of her helmet. She pulled the dust mask to hang below a small but determined chin. ‘I resign. I’m not going to be a patient again. One of you lot can do it next time.’
‘But you’re so nice and light,’ Kelly said. ‘Imagine if we had to cart Joe down a hill. It would be a killer. He must weigh three times as much as you.’
‘It’s all muscle,’ Joe protested.
‘It’s discrimination,’ Wendy declared. ‘And I’m going to take a stand. Short people shouldn’t get picked on.’ Her grin was disarming. ‘Not while there’s rats around, anyway.’
Ignoring the hand Fletch was extending to help her, Wendy steadied the stretcher by holding the sides, stood up quickly and then straightened to her full height of barely more than five feet. Fletch and Joe both towered over her and were grinning broadly. Wendy looked away, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully at the sight of the approaching figure.
‘I know. Let’s bury Kyle next time.’
‘Mmm.’ Jessica’s quiet tone matched Wendy’s. ‘And let’s not dig him up.’
It was unfortunate that the burst of laughter coincided with Kyle’s small mishap. Picking his way down the hillside a little too eagerly, Kyle had slipped and travelled a short distance in an undignified sitting position. He looked less than pleased as he came to stand beside Kelly.
‘What are you doing standing up, Wendy? You’re supposed to have a spinal injury.’
‘I’m miraculously cured,’ Wendy announced.
Kyle looked around the group. ‘You were supposed to deliver her to ambulance triage,’ he informed them. He looked less than happy to find his authority undermined.
‘There’s nobody there,’ Fletch said patiently. ‘The exercise was location and retrieval, Kyle. We’ve completed that. Very successfully, in fact.’ Fletch was smiling as he nodded. ‘Well done, everyone.’
It annoyed Kelly that she automatically joined in the murmur of agreement and even appreciation. What was it about Neil Fletcher that made people unconsciously welcome and accept his leadership in almost any situation? Ross had been given the role of team leader for this training exercise and assessment but he was looking as happy as everyone else to have won Fletch’s approval.
Kelly
