READ MORE/WATCH VIDEO Florida Leaders Leading It’s important to point out that the IDF is probably the most experienced unit in the world at Search & Rescue operations considering that they continue to work within an active war zone, saving lives buried under structures destroyed by rockets and suicide bombings. “The atmosphere is one where everyone wants to help, everyone feels that something like this shouldn’t happen.”Īnd the emotional toll that tirelessly working on a scene like this has had on first responders is evident.Local Search & Rescue teams have been on site since the building fell, and now Mexico and Israel have sent teams of their own seasoned units accustomed to this kind of work.Ī special unit from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) landed in Miami early Sunday morning after answer the call for help less than 24 hours after receiving orders to travel. “This tragedy brought this entire community together, working, volunteering, people wanting to donate, to save lives,” Schloss told me. It was tragic to see it and on those ruins, you could see the memories, too, that collapsed for the people there… It was a scene full of emotions.”Īnd yet, in every disaster, sometimes there are tiny moments where sparks of goodness appear. I think a lot of those people who lost their lives in the situation that they were not able to help themselves.” Even now, two weeks after the building collapsed, her voice quivers when she speaks of it: “To realize that even your home is not as safe as you think - it’s a terrible loss right in my back yard. Schloss has been glued to the horrific scene which is unfolding just outside of her third-floor window. The Surfside Condo collapse scene has been constantly filled with families searching for information of their loved ones, first responders, and volunteers. We were able to gain people’s trust and were then able to provide emotional support.” When they sat with us and gave us all the details about their siblings, parents, kids, that was a way they felt they were helping the rescue mission - it was a way that they didn’t feel so helpless and hopeless. Unfortunately, we couldn’t give it to them however, what we were able to do was gather information about their family members, personal details, ways of identification, so we could give the information to the rescue teams. They are just looking for information about their loved ones who are missing. “This was especially helpful as when you approach the families to help them, most don’t want to talk to anyone. We did not come together, but we collaborated with one another,” Rucham explained. “Their emotions were constantly between hope and despair and our working alongside the Israeli Defense Forces rescue team was helpful. Soon after they landed in the US, they headed to the hotel where people from the Surfside Condo had been evacuated to and started working with families of the missing, survivors and first responders: “It was five days that we worked through, hearing tragic stories from the families about their loved ones, getting to know them and supporting them through this emotional rollercoaster.” Later that weekend, on Sunday morning, June 27th, Rucham and her team of therapists arrived from Israel.
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