And today on the show, we have Simon Robbins, who was part of an international rescue team in Japan after the terrible earthquake and tsunami that tragically took thousands of lives.0:08
Simon, welcome to the show.0:18
Simon, first of all, how did you end up in Japan helping with the rescue effort?0:22
Well, I have worked for the fire department at home in the USA for many years, and now I specialise in training other officers in search and rescue.0:26
Right after this disaster in Japan happened, I was asked if I could join an international rescue team, and of course I agreed.0:34
A difficult situation like this needs people with the right skills.0:41
Apart from seeing so much awful tragedy and suffering all around, the rescue teams had to face many more problems, didn't they, Simon?0:45
For a start, lots of roads were destroyed and there were big traffic jams and long queues for petrol everywhere.0:53
But probably the thing which made our job the most difficult was that only a few days after the disaster, heavy snow fell on the rubble and it was freezing cold.0:59
And did you find many survivors?1:07
Only a few in the first few days.1:09
Probably my darkest moment during my time in Japan was when our team received a radio call, 6 days after the earthquake.1:11
That there was a possible survivor under the rubble.1:18
We spent hours digging, but in the end we only found another body.1:21
It was very disappointing.1:24
I can only imagine, Simon.1:26
The truth is, Andrew, that the chances of finding a survivor after an earthquake drops after 5 days and becomes very unlikely after 7 days.1:27
Unfortunately, things weren't any different in this situation.1:35
So, in the middle of this terrible tragedy, Simon, did you see any hope at all?1:39
Yes, I did, and I was amazed by that.1:43
Even though emergency refugee centers were crowded, with about half a million survivors struggling to cope with losing relatives and shortages of food, supplies, and electricity, people didn't seem totally hopeless.1:45
They were determined to move forward and trying to support and encourage each other.1:57
Well, Simon, now lastly I'd like to ask you, when you find survivors,2:00
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