Video: The Men and Women Behind Search and Rescue Missions

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – When there’s an emergency, certain men and women are always ready to respond.

Each call is different and some require multiple agencies and rescue missions.

Many agencies and a rescue mission were both needed last week in Tupelo, because of a SUV dropping nearly 90 feet from the highway down into Town Creek.

The Town Creek car crash started out as a Tupelo Police Department investigation.

“We have certain resources that we use and when we come to a point in our investigation that we may have to involve others, other entities, such as the fire department, the sheriff’s department, and maybe sheriff’s departments from other counties, we certainly do. We all work together,” says Tupelo Police Department Major of Operations, Major Jackie Clayton.

Since there were missing victims, Tupelo investigators knew this case required a team effort.

They reached out to other agencies to help with a search and recovery mission.

“They had folks out with boots on the ground, or in the water on this case, but we developed the plan and we set our objectives and our goals and what we wanted to accomplish each day and you know, we were the lead on that and the other agencies jumped in and helped us achieve those goals,” says Tupelo Fire Chief Thomas Walker.

It was an around-the-clock search for ten straight days.

Chief Walker says when they’re involved in an event of this magnitude, they have to stay two steps ahead.

“You have to look at the assets or the resources that you have and formulate a plan to avoid fatigue, to avoid the stress of what they’re doing, and give them an opportunity to come away from that scene, to go back to the station to decompress.”

From rope rescue, high angle rescue, and swift water rescue, like last week’s mission, these men and women are trained for it all.

Each scenario comes with its own challenges.

“Anything that has washed down Town Creek from up creek that’s hidden under the surface, you just have to, you know, every step has to be intentional and deliberate and planned out for reaction to know where that next step footstep is going to land,” says Walker.

Besides battling the terrain and current, rescuers also have to deal with the emotional toll of what can be heartbreaking work.

That’s why coping is part of their training.

“Some of them may go and hit the gym and just, you know, pump iron until they’re totally exhausted and that’s how they get rid of it. Somebody to talk to, a hobby, you know, things that they love to do,” says Walker.

Chief Walker says his department, along with the agencies involved, are glad they could help bring closure to the victims’ families on Wednesday.

Categories: Local News

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