AFGHANISTAN AVALANCHE - AIR FORCE RESCUERS SAVE LIVES Published July 25, 2010 By Staff Sgt. Richard Williams BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- As the helicopter door slid open Feb. 9, snow flurries swirled inside, stinging the cheeks of Air Force Master Sgt. Jonathan Grant. The 33rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron pararescue team leader leaned out slightly into the whipping winds and minus-40 degree air to survey the remote area below. He stared at a shocking scene of frozen bodies lying on the road and vehicles thrown about as if they were Matchbox cars. The rescue squadron team from Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, had been called in earlier that morning to launch a rescue and evacuation mission for survivors of multiple avalanches that occurred in Salang Pass, Afghanistan, the day before. Salang is a major mountain pass connecting northern Afghanistan and Kabul province, with further connections to southern Afghanistan and Pakistan. "We were told that there were thousands of people trapped and multiple vehicles with people still inside," said Grant, who is deployed from the Air Force Reserve Command's 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. So the rescue squadron assembled extraction equipment and hypothermia kits to assist people who had been exposed to sub-zero temperatures, trapped in vehicles, and in some cases, buried in the snow for more than 12 hours. The team loaded equipment and personnel on Army CH-47 helicopters assigned to Task Force Knighthawk and took off on the 30-minute flight to the avalanche site. Grant's team was on the first aircraft that arrived at the snow-covered pass, which had no defined landing zone. The pilots had to clear one for themselves. Despite the possibility of enemy threats and more avalanches, as soon as the helicopter hit the ground, "we were cleared, so we grabbed our gear and began to secure our area and assess the situation," Grant said. "That was an eerie feeling given the fact that we didn't see anyone moving." That changed quickly as the rescuers were soon greeted by a crowd of people walking out of a tunnel. Grant said the first thought that ran through his mind as he saw the shivering men, women and children was "This is going to get crazy pretty quick." "We don't really receive formal training on crowd control," said Senior Master Sgt. Mike Ziegler, 33rd ERQS pararescue superintendent, also deployed from Florida. "In this situation we had a learning curve of about 15 seconds to decide how we were going to protect and reassure these people." Waist-deep snow and an elevation of 11,500 feet provided a stark contrast to the flat terrain and expanse of water that surrounds Patrick AFB, where the Florida pararescuemen train day-to-day for mostly ocean rescues. But that didn't slow them down. The rescuers began to organize a reverse triage process. Typically, in an evacuation situation, people with the most severe injuries are taken away first, Ziegler said. The reverse process allowed the most healthy to clear the area so the team could focus on more serious injuries and free those who were still trapped. Once the initial rush of nearly 80 avalanche survivors was loaded onto helicopters and sent to Bagram, the team returned to the area to render more assistance. For safety reasons, they organized individuals in a casualty collection point in one of the tunnels to keep them out of the elements and prepare them for evacuation, Ziegler said. "We have had situations in the past where people have injured themselves trying to get on the aircraft," he added. "A helicopter with a moving tail rotor can be very dangerous." After organizing the area, the team broke up into small groups so they could begin to rescue trapped victims. Using shovels, they began to dig into the snow. They used heavy extraction equipment to cut through a metal bus frame, which freed even more people. According to Ziegler, the team dug tunnels through the vehicles and completed an on-scene triage to assess medical conditions of any survivors. When it was all said and done, the team had freed dozens and completed 12 flights in a seven-hour period, assisting more than 300 people. "This was an extremely dangerous mission," said Capt. Gabe Hensley, 33rd ERQS combat rescue officer and another 920th member deployed from Florida. "We found out that there were 36 avalanches in the area that day. The road was used for enemy activities regularly, and there was potential for these elements to be mixed into the crowd of people. Additionally, we encountered some of the worst weather conditions imaginable." The captain added that the rescue team could have been trapped themselves, but "they accepted the risk" without batting an eye.