Minneapolis Bridge

[Kilted-Marine]

Wow , what a night...Mark B and I were out at Keegans Irish Pub waiting on a gentlemen from a local Professional Sports team we are talking to about creating a Corporate tartan for..WHEN...things start going crazy, ambulance, fire trucks, police, wreckers...the waitress come over and told us a bridge had collapsed and turned on the TV... we were about 8 blocks away from the 35W bridge and could see the smoke from the truck burning.

over head was 4, then 5, then 6 tv helicopters... I wonder why they did not start landing and taking people off the non-collapsed part of the bridge..at least a couple at a time... maybe it would destroy their jouranalistic independence.

It is all over the news, so I am sure most people have seen it.... I will say when we left the pub after dinner and a COKE..there was hardly anybody on 94 east or 35E

things like this always make you stop and wonder and realize how important family is

[Marshal Moroni]

Mark W.,

I had tried to call Mark B. this evening to check on the status of my order and wasn't able to get through and I couldn't figure it out. Then I saw the news and became concerned about this situation, and was hopeful that neither of you or your kin were involved. The pictures look like a huge disaster!!!

Glad that you are all O.K.

It does show that in a moment things can go crazy, without any warning.

Prayers and thoughts to all who have suffered loss in this tragic event.

Stay safe,

[Beertigger]

over head was 4, then 5, then 6 tv helicopters... I wonder why they did not start landing and taking people off the non-collapsed part of the bridge..at least a couple at a time... maybe it would destroy their jouranalistic independence.

First off, yeah, it would. The job of a journalist is to convey information, not to interfere in a situation. "Observe and report, don't make the news." Sometimes it's difficult and even troubling to avoid intervening, and sometimes it's impossible not to, but it's not what the job is. There are people who are trained for that - if they absolutely needed assistance, they'd be asking for it.

Second, absent the proper training, a air/ground rescue isn't something even an experienced chopper pilot should be doing. Especially in a dynamic disaster situation with crowded airspace and little room to maneuver due to structures and terrain.

[Kilted-Marine]

Cell phones were out off and on...tv keep saying stay off them unless it is an emergency...

Mark B's daughter was on the bridge less then 30 minutes before it collapsed!

The Minn National Guard had Medical evac copters in the air in about an hour-that is fantastic..considering it is not a drill weekend and they had to call folks in

[Kilted-Marine]

My opinion -for what it is worth...

1 air space was not really crowded in that the copters had a large seperation between them... there were some very open areas that a copter could have come down on to take a person or two. If a pilot can not get his copter down on a large open area I am not sure he should even be in the air..I am not sure if they even have two way or the means to have two way communication with the police or first reponders

Of course I look at this from the view of spending many years as a Combat Medic.

It has always bothered me to see folks tanking pictures of people in a life or death situation when they could be helping out

[ccga3359]

Frugal I can see your frustration, you are on the front line of a disaster in your city. Regarding the news copters you must realize that last week two copters collided covering a story resulting in 4 deaths (it could have been worse). The bridge sections are not stable nor are the news choppers equipped for rescue. The weight of a helicopter, or the rotor wash would only exacerbate rescue efforts. I think lessons learned from disasters like Katrina and 9-11 have taught emergency services highly valuable lessons. I'm sure that Minneapolis Fire, Police and Medical personnel are more than capable in this situation. By all reports mutual aid from surrounding communities was highly successful, rescue equipment and manpower was in abundance. The image of that Firefighter equipped with only a rope and a pfd searching flooded cars shows the dedication and selflessness prevalent there today. As for the news organizations, they too have a job. The world has now seen what I have just described above. Their footage will also aid in determining the cause and the future prevention of such tragedies.

My friends of the Twin Cities my are with you.

[Kilted-Marine]

yes you are both right about that..it was just a GUT reaction on my part

[Phil]

I just saw this on the news. What a terrible tragedy and how lucky those kids in the school bus were. I know everyone here is praying for the poor souls caught up in this tragedy along with their relatives at this time.

[Rigged]

My opinion -for what it is worth...

1 air space was not really crowded in that the copters had a large seperation between them... there were some very open areas that a copter could have come down on to take a person or two. If a pilot can not get his copter down on a large open area I am not sure he should even be in the air..I am not sure if they even have two way or the means to have two way communication with the police or first reponders

Of course I look at this from the view of spending many years as a Combat Medic.

It has always bothered me to see folks tanking pictures of people in a life or death situation when they could be helping out

It would be even more frustrating for the trained and equipped med-evac pilots to have their landing and air space full of amature rescuers. Did the news pilots have the training and ability to coordinate their efforts to that they wouldn't be in each others way? We've seen news choppers crash during a simple car chase just a few days ago, and they weren't attempting anything more complicated than following a car from a distance.

Would they have the medical training to evaluate whether and how to move victims without causing them further injury? Did they have the ability to know which hospital were equipped and prepared to receive the victims? Besides being unprepared, amature rescuers often become victims themselves, further complicating things for the pros.

I was Editor-In-Chief of the school's newspaper for two semesters when I was in college (winning six local journalism awards), I have Search and Rescue training, and I'm an EMT.

Even with the training I have, if I was on the scene of the collapse as a reporter, I would do that job and only that job to the best of my abilities, answering the "Who", "What", "When", "Where", and most importantly, "Why" questions to inform people and hopefully prevent another such tradgedy.

[McMurdo]

Just saw it again this morning, glad you and your family are alright, my thoughts and prayers go out too the victims and the people of Minneapolis.