|
of support
uplifts us all
Just this week, Columbus County residents were returning from a mission trip to Mississippi where help is still badly needed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Sadly, Thursday’s tornado that caused eight deaths in the Riegelwood area and left many homeless has led to a turn of events where Columbus County is benefitting from the same spirit of human kindness from around the region, country, and indeed from right here at home.
Soon after the tornado struck, aid and help came in the form of food, water, clothes, financial contributions, offerings of shelter and simple emotional support. By Friday morning, cars were lined up at the Riegelwood Baptist Church with people donating items and asking how they could help. A tractor trailer from “God’s Pit Crew” from Virginia pulled up with disaster relief supplies. Columbus County disaster support units, such as the one from Trinity Baptist Church in Whiteville, quickly set up a site to feed emergency officials.
More than 200 Columbus County homes were rendered uninhabitable after the floods of Hurricane Floyd, but there was no loss of life in those homes.
Thursday’s tornado was a disaster of another color because so many died, two of them children.
It’s hard to find a silver lining when something as devastating as this happens, but it should be comforting to everyone to see the level of human kindness that has reached out to help those in need.
Response to
tornado scene
was stellar
The response by Columbus County emergency and law enforcement agencies was handled professionally and prevented a further loss of life.
When severe trauma occurs, lifesaving care must be performed quickly. In medical circles, it’s called “The Golden Hour.”
Recent changes in the county’s emergency management system, coupled with the quick response of EMS and fire crews, deserve credit.
Columbus County has a rich tradition of service by volunteers at its community fire and rescue departments. These men and women were beacons of shining light Thursday morning.
The addition of paid EMS personnel and the upgrade of most county rescue units to the advanced life support level added to crews’ lifesaving abilities.
As a result, the victims were efficiently triaged and sent to area hospitals without delay. The extra hours that fire, EMS and law officials spend undergoing disaster training paid off Thursday.
Times like these also show the value of the 911 telephone and central communications system. Communications is the key to a coordinated disaster response, but a few years ago, this wouldn’t have been the case.
Acme-Delco-Riegelwood Fire Rescue, like most units, had its own dispatch system. The sheriff’s department, with only one dispatcher on duty, would have handled many of the calls and would have been quickly overwhelmed.
The county’s 9-1-1 communications system not only provided a central point where all county fire and rescue units could be dispatched, it also allowed for the coordination of a response from surrounding counties, which sent many fire, EMS, law and search and rescue teams.
None of this would have been possible with the fragmented system that was in place before the advent of 9-1-1.
The incident command system worked well Thursday. In the absence of an emergency management coordinator, ADR Fire Rescue officers and Sheriff Chris Batten provided the leadership needed to bring order to chaos.
With good communications, leadership and a large response from volunteers and professionals, the skill and efficiency of the Riegelwood tornado disaster operation is one that county residents can be thankful for.