personnel trained in urban search and rescue.
Including the most recent graduates of the USAR training course held in Christchurch, Dr Turnball among them. Given his medical qualifications, his presence on the course had been welcomed. His years of experience as part of a mountain search and rescue team had put him right at the top of the class but Ross had been eager to add to his knowledge base. He’d wanted to add skills that would enable him to respond to any kind of emergency situation. To reinforce the quiet confidence he already possessed that he could assist or, if need be, lead the kind of people who were willing to risk their own safety to save the lives of others.
That risk was starting to feel familiar enough to make the fear of personal danger seem almost irrelevant. Ross turned to speak to a man standing to one side and well below his own position.
‘If you hold a rope I can tie it round my waist and lean over far enough to reach her.’
‘I could climb down there.’
‘No way.’ Ross swung his gaze back to the small figure in blue overalls perched close to him on the mound of debris. It might be easy to dismiss the fear for his own safety, but Wendy Watson’s was a completely different matter. ‘We have no idea how stable this side of the void really is. You could end up being buried as well.’
‘I’m smaller,’ Wendy protested. Her bright orange safety helmet tilted as she lifted her face to look directly at her senior colleague. ‘And lighter. I’d be less likely to make anything collapse.’
‘We don’t even know if she’s alive yet.’ Ross peered over the concrete slab obscuring the lower half of the woman lying just out of reach below them. The discovery of the woman had been made in Sector 3, when the pile of debris had shifted following the removal of a large beam obstructing the path of rescue workers nearby in Sector 2. USAR Squad 4 had been on their way to a new deployment on the second level of the shopping centre but they had been quickly diverted by news of the discovery. A rapid survey by members of a civil defence team, in consultation with an engineer, had allowed permission to be given for USAR 4’s medics to move close enough to try and assess the victim’s condition.
‘She doesn’t look dead.’ Wendy sounded hopeful as Ross turned his attention to securing the rope around his waist. Her optimism was contagious, despite his exhaustion, but it was probably no more than wishful thinking. The few victims they had found on their last tour of duty had been well beyond their assistance.
‘Ross!’ Wendy’s voice was excited. ‘She moved. Look!’
Sure enough, the woman’s hand was moving, her fingers curling slowly into a fist. A rush of adrenaline surged through the whole squad.
‘I could climb around to the back. Maybe there’s access to the void from that direction.’
‘Stay right where you are, Kyle.’ The squad leader, Tony Calder, had been one of the instructors on the USAR course. He was well used to containing the youngest class member’s enthusiasm when necessary. ‘We’re not going to risk making this situation any more unstable than it already is. You and Matt can hang on to this rope. And be ready to pull Ross clear fast if I give you the signal.’
Making a primary survey of a multi-trauma victim whilst hanging head down was not a skill Ross had previously discovered he possessed. His hands felt heavy and his head was pounding gently as gravity affected his own circulation.
‘She’s breathing,’ he reported a short time later, ‘but the chest movement looks unilateral.’
Wendy was leaning as far as she could without a rope. ‘Possible pneumothorax, then,’ she suggested. ‘Do you want a stethoscope?’
‘Not just yet.’ Ross was rubbing a knuckle on the woman’s sternum. ‘Hello, can you hear me? Hello?’ His voice rose as the woman made an inarticulate sound. ‘It’s all right,’ he reassured her. ‘I’m a doctor. We’re here to help you.’
His hands continued moving. ‘Good carotid pulse,’ he called back to Wendy. An air hammer had started up in the vicinity and it was difficult to know whether she could hear him. ‘Trachea’s midline. There’s no obvious cervical deformity and no sign of a major head injury.’
Wendy had heard. She had a cervical collar and was reaching forward to dangle the Velcro strap within his reach.
‘I’ve just guessed the neck size,’ she said. ‘She looks like a medium from here.’
‘I’m sure you’re right,’ Ross responded. ‘You’ve dealt with a lot more spinal injuries than I’ve ever seen.’ He had to wriggle forward a few extra inches to give him room to manoeuvre the collar into position. A shower of plaster dust seemed to come from nowhere and too much of it settled over the victim’s face. The demonstration that she was not unconscious enough to have lost her cough reflex should have been a relief, but Ross was not alone in the alarm he felt at the tiny movement of the concrete slab he was lying on.
Tony raised his hand and dropped it in a sharp cutting motion. Matt and Kyle hauled on the rope to help pull Ross clear quickly. He slid down from the pile of debris and staggered slightly as he tried to catch his balance.
‘You can stop pulling now, Kyle,’ he said drily. ‘I’m out now.’
Wendy was still perched above them to one side of the slab that Ross had been leaning over. ‘We need to get an oxygen mask on her,’ she called. ‘And to listen to her breathing. If she’s got a tension pneumothorax she’ll need decompression.’ Wendy was clearly frustrated by the delay.
‘It’s too dangerous for me to keep leaning over that ledge. My weight and movement could send it right down on top of her head.’
‘There’s room for me to stand down here, I’m sure of it. And I’m only forty-five kilos. If it hasn’t moved too much with Ross’s weight, I could easily get past that slab.’
Ross had to admire her courage. She had weighed the risks—almost literally—and she was determined to carry on. He would probably have chosen to assess the situation a lot more thoroughly before taking action but Wendy’s enthusiasm was contagious. So was her confidence. It was a package Ross couldn’t help responding to and it had been that way from the first moment he’d seen this woman. He recognised all her qualities as being the ones he nurtured in himself but she had a glow that illuminated shadows he’d never known he harboured. Like conservatism and prudence and maybe too much of a professional distance. It was no wonder he’d fallen head over heels in love with this pint-sized powerhouse of a personality, and he wasn’t the only one affected. Poor old Kyle was staring at her with an expression of hero-worship as Wendy put her case. And the squad leader, Tony, was actually grinning—albeit ruefully.
‘If you’re sure you want to try, it’s OK by me.’
‘I’m sure.’ Wendy looked serious now. The hint of mischief that usually lurked in that elfin face was nowhere to be seen. She was far too intelligent not to understand what she was letting herself in for and while Ross felt an almost overwhelming urge to protect her by protesting the decision, he knew his only real option was to offer his support.
And Wendy needed him. Ross took her previous and more secure position, well away from being able to touch the victim but close enough to pass supplies and advice to his medical partner.
‘Breath sounds are absent on the left and it’s difficult to hear the heart.’ Wendy pulled the earpieces of the stethoscope free
