Rescued PA Miners Recount Ordeal (***PICTURES***)

AP ^ | July 28, 2002 | Larry Neumeister

[The Mayor]

Excellent pictures, Thankyou bump!

[lawgirl]

Great post! We stayed up until 2AM watching- it was a great scene and I was really surprised at what good shape they were all in. A definite miracle.

[Kerberos]

"The broken bit certainly wasn't good news"

That may not be true. They are reporting on Fox News tonight that if the drill bit had not broken, and they had of continued drill unabated, that when they would have broke through to the mine shaft it would have still been too flooded with water and would have backed up into the shaft that they were drilling. That would have pretty much destroyed the rescue effort. However, since they incurred the delay in retrieving and replacing the broken bit, it gave the air pressure, that they were forcing down, time to cause the water to recede.

If that story is true it certainly goes to show that what can sometimes appear as adversity, may in fact be working in your favor. Never give up.

[lawdog]

These men, these people ,that's what so right about America !

[backtobasics]

Like you, I stayed up till the last man was brought up. I also saw the speach by the governor. What a great outcome!

The night the news broke that the miners were trapped, I went to the bedside of my two little daughters and explained to them the situation and we had a bedside prayer for those men. Being only 5 and 7, they had plenty of questions about what all this meant but were happy to offer their prayers.

They woke up last night when all the men had been rescued and when I told them what had happened, the 7 year old said ,"YESSSS!!!"

I was a little frustrated that there had been so little coverage of what was going on at the beginning, but I am glad in the end that they kept it low-key until the last few hours or the media coverage would have been agonizing.

So many things could have gone wrong in the rescue but I am in awe of how precise the whole operation went. Think of the decision made on where to drill that first hole. That, my friends, was a piece of work. Had that first hole been off, then we may still be waiting, wondering.

These guys had all the bases covered such as, drilling a well for pumping water out, drilling a well for pumping in air(and heated air at that)to pressurize the chamber to keep the water level down, providing a seal for the rescue shaft when the bit broke through the ceiling of the chamber to keep the pressure up and the water level from rising and numerous other backup and safety precautions. Even the USN was involved in case the miners suffered pressure sickness.

Thats a lot of "stuff" to pull togeather in a short amount of time. Thats America!

[Hildy]

Let's hope Hollywood doesn't come to this town and ruin it like it does everytime there's a great rescue somewhere.

[3D-JOY]

OH NO!!

I never thought of that. I bet Geraldo is contacting them as I type!

OH NO!!

[3D-JOY]

OH NO!!

I never thought of that. I bet Geraldo is contacting them as I type!

OH NO!!

[bvw]

Even well-known emergency medicince is sometimes steered to what the mob and media wants rather than good medical sense.

[TomB]

Even well-known emergency medicince is sometimes steered to what the mob and media wants rather than good medical sense.

First, you have not one, but several different physicians making independent decisions on the matter, the Navy physicians at the site, and the ER doctors at the Trauma center.

Second, if there were ANY remote possibility of a problem, the Navy physicians would be MORE inclined to use the decompression chambers that THEY brought with them, IF they are being "steered by the media". As things are now, the role of the Navy is mimimized.

Third, IIRC at least some symptoms will appear within 24 hours, so the men are safe.

[bvw]

While the bends is an extreme condition, there are other long-term, subtle effects of decompression and all those wee little nitrogen bubbles forming here and there in the body.

[Ditto]

You people from PA...what was the deal with the governor? Making political hay, or is he an alright guy?

From all accounts, he's a stand-up guy. He was Lt. Gov and took over as Gov when Ridge went to DC. His first act as Governor was to announce that he would not run for re-election this fall and that when his term was over, he was retiring from politics to spent more time with his kids. He was also more than window dressing at this mine rescue. As Lt. Gov., he was in charge of the PA Emergency Agency for nearly 8 years so he knew all the ropes and how to make things happen ASAP. Folks involved in the rescue are giving him lots of credit.

[TomB]

While the bends is an extreme condition, there are other long-term, subtle effects of decompression and all those wee little nitrogen bubbles forming here and there in the body.

Thanks, I'm aware of that. I'm also aware that there are ways of determining the likelyhood of that happening.

You didn't repond to the meat of the other post though, why wouldn't the Navy physicians, experts in the field, not put the men into the chambers for at least a few hours and get the publicity, IF they are being "steered by the media"?

And who says the media wanted the men to not be in decompression chambers?

Bones, comments?

[bvw]

Don't know why. Suspect they may have been overwhlemed, but that's just speculation very removed from the scene. It is troubling that at least one has come down with the bends, as reported and is being properly treated. What about the others? Nice to get home and be with the wife and kids, but I am a worrier and have stated my worry in this regard.

[TomB]

Don't know why

Then for God's sake, why even make the post?

It continually amazes me that there has to be at least one person on every thread second guessing everything that goes on. Multiple experts examined the men and determined them to be OK. One who was THOUGHT to be developing symptoms was put into a decompression chamber, so they obviously weren't averse to using them.

What about the others?

Obviously, they didn't develop symptoms.

I find your rampant speculation rather silly.

[bvw]

Okay that's your free expression.

[TomB]

As I was reading the local paper another fact dawned on me. Not only were the men examined by the Navy physicians AND the Mine Rescue physicians at the scene, they were transported to two different hospitals!

That means that every single one of these people came to the same conclusion more or less independent of each other.

It's this "let's do it just in case" mentality that has health costs skyrocketing.

Let the experts do their jobs.

[bvw]

You're underestimating group think and mob pyschology even among true experts.

[Hacksaw]

While the bends is an extreme condition, there are other long-term, subtle effects of decompression and all those wee little nitrogen bubbles forming here and there in the body.

For a long time, people didn't know what caused it - it used to be called "cassion sickness" because workers building the underwater supports for the Brooklyn Bridge would sometimes become mysteriously disabled after surfacing from the underground chamber they worked in.

Even the designer John Roebling experienced it and I believe had to supervise the work from a bed using a telescope. I don't think he ever recovered.

[TomB]

You're underestimating group think and mob pyschology even among true experts.

And you are paranoid.

How can there be "group think" when they aren't even a group?

These two hospitals aren't even in the same towns.

And I'll trust the Navy expert above all of them. If there was any "group think" going on it would be the Navy guys telling everybody that they had to use these bright, shiny decompression chambers they transported all this way.

So, what "group think" was it that had them decide to NOT put the men in the chambers? What possible reason could there be?