Rescue mission paints a picture of hope amid blood, sweat and tears

Rescue mission at the collapsed building in Huruma, Nairobi, is expected to end today.

The week-long exercise has seen rescuers brave cold nights and rain, sifting through debris of the six-storey building in search of survivors.

And when six-month-old baby Dearleyn Wasike was retrieved alive and unhurt after 80 hours tucked in a basin, hope for life exceeded expectations.

Then nine rabbits were found alive on Thursday and four people were rescued from the debris bringing the number of survivors to 140, with 42 dead and 71 persons still missing.

However, one of the four victims rescued alive was pronounced dead on arrival at the Kenyatta National Hospital.

“She was in a critical state. We had to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation to revive her and she was put on oxygen. Her vitals were hanging by the thread. She was too weak to make it,” said Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) team leader Joe Mbalu.

This appeared to be the lowest moment not only for KRCS personnel but also National Disaster Management Unit (NMDU) team.

“We cannot work tirelessly to retrieve someone after six days give them hope that they have survived probably the worst that they could have ever faced in life only for them to die on transit to hospital,” said a disappointed NMDU personnel Pius Masai.

At the scene, most ambulances are reportedly equipped with basic life support machine with a handful having the advanced one.

A basic life support machine usually has paramedics, intravenous fluids and oxygen: “... while the advanced one is like a mini theatre which is usually used for hospital to hospital transfer.”

It has been sweat, blood and tears for the rescuers as well as the community in search of the missing persons.

Considering they could not access the building’s plan, a sketch on a yellow manilla paper drawn by Mr Masai using a red and purple felt pen was the determinant factor of the missing 71 persons. This, coupled with difficulty to access to the site slowed down the rescue mission.

At the site every team made sure its presence is felt from the Ministry of Transport that provided the earth movers (caterpillars), to the county that provided cranes, wheel barrows, spades and man power from the National Youth Service.

 

These resources made Kenya not to seek international help to hasten the exercise.

“We have enough workmanship and equipment of international standards and these rescuers trained with the best in Israel. We are equally capable of handling such a disaster,” said Commanding Officer Disaster Rapid Response Unit KDF Lt Col Joseph Maritim.

Sniffer dogs were also used to detect life in places where it was risky to use the big machines and not big enough for one to pass through.

“This pancake type of collapse where slabs fall on each other is the worst ever. So what we do is to create tunnels to be able to reach as many people as possible without inflicting more pain,” he added.

The rescue team worked in shifts of eight to 12 hours and due to the heavy smell of sewage, decomposing bodies and dust they are required to take at least a litre of milk as a detox every 12 hours.

It takes manpower of about 60 people from medics and rescuers to work on the site. For humanitarian organisation volunteers, Red Cross team leader Joe Mbalu said they work in shifts of eight to 12 hours: “... but we interchange in intervals of four hours.”

Mbalu explained that: “It is mandatory that after an hour or two a volunteer visits a counsellor to get the frightening images out of their mind. But as usual that is not a forgettable thing,” he said.

Residents were not left out in the mission as they provided food for the rescuers.

“I do not sleep. I have to make sure there is plenty of coffee for them. It may not be my work but i feel obligated to do so,” said Michael Oduor.