Beneath the rubble: On a rescue mission with DART

SINGAPORE: It was the aftermath of a “disaster”.

I was standing over a pile of rubble, dressed in heavy-duty overalls and safety boots. I had my helmet, facemask and gloves on.

Along with three other men from Singapore Civil Defence Force’s (SCDF) Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART), we were on a mission to search for survivors buried under the rubble.

DART is an elite team specially trained to carry out such operations. Since it was set up almost three decades ago in 1990, the team has carried out 17 high-profile Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) missions abroad, such as in the wake of the Nepal earthquake in 2015.

I was embedded with the team for a day to get a taste of how these men train for such missions.

Assisting us was Dodge, a five-year-old dog that’s specially trained to locate people trapped in rubble.

When he sniffs out a casualty, he barks to alert rescuers, who then use wireless seismic sensors and a video camera probe to confirm the casualty’s location.

With the location confirmed, we had to crawl through a small tunnel, then use a drill to break the thick concrete slab in front of us to reach the casualty.

It’s back-breaking work. The hole had to be big enough for the casualty to be pulled through. 

While gasping for air, we took turns to do the drilling.

“One of the most important traits of being a DART member would be to be a team player,” DART Platoon Commander Kelvin Koh said.

“In all the operations that DART is called upon for, it’s never about a one-man show. It’s always about a team, and how to work together as a team to achieve the most difficult scenarios or rescue operations.”

LESS THAN 30 MINUTES, BUT IT FELT LIKE HOURS

Depending on the size and thickness of the concrete, SCDF said it can take up to half a day at times to break through thick slabs of concrete.

Eventually, after what felt like hours (though we were told it wasn’t more than 30 minutes), we broke through, placed the casualty (a dummy) on a stretcher, and pulled it out to safety.

That was just a snippet of how far the team goes to save a life.

The rubble is one of several training areas at the (HTTC).

Captain Koh said: “I can essentially train my guys here on a day-to-day basis. I can plan a realistic USAR scenario that … will allow my platoon guys to be trained and prepared when they are deployed for such overseas missions.”

As I found out first-hand, these missions can be dangerous, complicated and a huge test of endurance.

My second mission involves what’s called a “leaning tower”, which is inclined at an angle of 18 degrees. While it may not seem like much, it makes simple tasks like climbing up and down the stairs that much more challenging.

Three members of DART and I were tasked to retrieve a casualty from the fourth storey of the leaning tower and to take it down to safety.

I could feel sweat dripping from my face as I tried to keep my balance while carrying the heavy load. 

By the time we reached the medical team on the ground, I could barely feel my right arm.