a lake Eerie Island Resort becomes the sight of a deadly Terrace collapse volunteers care for the injured there's blood and guts all over and you have to stay focused and try to free those trapped inside the Fallen concrete structure as emergency medical Crews take to the air for a trauma patient they have a golden hour where you need to get them to the trauma center they realize that if they're to save lives they are in a Race Against Time [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the village of Putin Bay in Middle Bass Island lay 6 miles off Ohio's Coast in Lake [Music] Erie a 30-minute ride on the [Music] ferry with only 40 year round residence remote Middle Bass Island becomes a hot spot each summer as thousands of visitors dream in for most their destination is The Lawns Winery the weathered Limestone and brick building was built in 1866 over the years additions were made including a Lakefront Terrace in 1964 unfortunately Ohio law does not require inspections of existing structures regardless of age or where no one knew the dangerous condition of the [Applause] Terrace a party on July 1st 2000 was one of the last big events at the winery the state of Ohio planned to purchase the property and turn it into a park 25-year-old Beth roach joined several friends in the Terrace to celebrate the long weekend weather was great I remember it was a beautiful day and um I just remember the Dance Floor was busy it was you know we were just people watching and taking it all in and having a drink and just kind of going with the with the flow of things Ken and Joel and reallyy were in enjoying the weekend with friends our friends were up there with us and a lot of people from our hometown were there and uh we were really enjoying the situation they had a band and a great company uh the people and enjoying oursel and didn't think that anything was going to happen to us that that we didn't appreciate or didn't like that day Linda Shaw was enjoying a romantic ghetto away with her fiance far away from her hectic career as a nurse every year around July 4th was an annual event for a group of friends to go over to midle Bass and go to the winery listen to the band have a good time so it's been a lot of [Music] fun unbeknownst to the party goers disaster lurk beneath their feet [Music] a crack in the concrete Terrace that widened as the afternoon wore on from their perspective the Winer R Terrace appeared to be the best spot on the island I heard this loud Rumble like thunder and then um then I saw the crack and the crack was just just coming right towards me right towards [Music] [Applause] me and all happens so fast I mean uh you know it's like you know your arms flip over your head everybody just kind of drops and um too fast to yell too fast to jump too fast to warn anybody push anybody out of the way jump out of the way you just one minute you're stand there talking next minute you're on the ground you know in in the midst of a lot of rubble chaos people you know it happened that [Music] fast with no warning the lawn's winery Terrace had collapsed one of my most Vivid memories visuals is is a visual I still see from time to time I'll never forget this but um and I can't IM imagine what it was like for them but the people that didn't fall that were right on the edge just the looks on their faces as they were looking down over everything that was very poignant to me cuz they were just horrified and I can't imagine what they were seeing cuz all I could see was just the small area around me cuz I was on the ground so I couldn't see the whole span it was impossible to know how many people were buried under the Avalanche of rubble tables and chairs Twisted rebar and Jagged hunks of concrete plunged along with them 20 ft into an unused wine Celler it was a scene that defied comprehension seemed like everything was just in slow motion and looking down first of all just the depth and how far those people were they were hurt and they were crying and then you could see men like pushing and moving the concrete and there was pot machine and I mean you could just see um all this chaos and these people that were hurt it was just stunning just stunning joelan and her husband Ken were both trapped beneath the rubble when she regained Consciousness joelan could barely breathe there was a big Stone across Big Slab over my leg and I remember when I woke came to um I looked up and all I seen was the sky up above and then I went to yell help and nothing came out of my lungs at all and it scared me really bad cuz I thought how am I going to be found and then I thought I can't lay here and die and so I tried to pull my leg out from underneath the uh concrete and and it wasn't going to come out real well and then I looked down and my friend was laying underneath the slab and he didn't move or anything and I thought oh I've got to get out of here I'm going to die dozens of injured victims were trapped slabs of unstable concrete loomed above them the the nearest hospital was at least 30 minutes by boat across Lake Erie [Music] 911 emergency the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office took the call okay how many people are hurt the dispatcher called the Emergency Medical Service in the village of Putin Bay because of the July 4th holiday they also staffed the paramedic station on Middle Bass Island they could be at the site in minutes [Music] put B we've had a terrorist collapse at lon's winery Middle Bass Island I'm going to tone out your squad and your fire department if there were many people injured in the collapse Chief Mark Wilhelm of the Puttin Bay volunteer fire department knew his staff would need help we didn't have enough people we basically on our own until we get outside help the rescue squad was only prepared for small holiday emergencies but nothing of this [Music] [Applause] [Music] magnitude phone lines all over the island were jammed with those seeking help 911 emergency many of the callers were hysterical reports were garbled and unclear anybody heard Still The Patcher knew she needed to get more help fast she sent a helicopter paramedic team to the island like like we've had a Terrace collapse at Middle Bass Island lonzo's Winery we're going to need transport of EMS [Music] Personnel within minutes the chopper was on its [Music] way kin reallyy regained Consciousness and realized he was pinned between chunks of concrete unable to move I couldn't move my arms were pinned down and there was a lot of weight on me I couldn't breathe real while and I had which actually I think saved my life is I had a 50-gallon drum which they were using for trash that was up on the deck was laying over my body and then I had a big slab of concrete on top of it and it had me pin down and uh there's a lot of dust settling in my face cuz I couldn't wipe it away or anything I couldn't see real well Putin Bay rescue workers arrived to find the victims buried in the rubble they couldn't tell how many people had been injured or trapped in the collapse the helicopter pilot arrived over the island and saw the extent of the collapse he advised dispatch to send out a mass casualty alert TR we've got mass casualty injur injuries on Middle Bass Island we've had a Terrace collapse at L wi have as the dispatchers spread the alert he landed A4 mile from the site Julie goens is a flight nurse for LifeLight saw that there was a collapse at Middle Bass Island all available crew report to to LifeLight I reported to the helipad where once I got there the whole mood you could tell that it was very serious from the hospital doors it would take each helicopter 15 minutes to get to the island [Music] the Coast Guard on patrol in Lake Erie was also dispatched to the scene on board was petty officer in medic Jennifer zasowski when we got that call we knew we weren't coming back for a while we were going to be out there and we're going to be doing our job and saving saving people as best as we can the Coast Guard took off at full speed even so the 12m trip would take 20 minutes they would arrive 6 minutes behind the helicopters while rescue units launched from hospitals all over the area rescue Personnel from Putin Bay evacuated the UR victims were moved from the disaster site to a makeshift triage area Joel eny was one of the first patients evacuated from the scene both her lungs were punctured and her ribs protruded from her chest joelan was afraid she was dying she gave paramedics a message for her family I told her to tell um this part does bother me I told her to tell I'm both my sons that I loved him that's probably the hardest um cuz I didn't know how bad I was I didn't know if I was going to make it Joellen was immobilized on a backboard she needed to be taken to a Trauma Center quickly police cordoned off the area only rescue Personnel were allowed in Gary reesy was a football coach vacationing on the island he was also trained in first aid we need some powerful people down there cuz there's no cranes you know there's no there's no chains there's nothing except human strength to pull these people out before they die until rescue teams arrive from the mainland local Crews would have to rely on brute strength and Common Sense many of the injured had broken bones severe cuts and lacerations they had to be moved carefully and you've only got so much time and if you moved the concrete the wrong way and that pressure comes off those veins and arteries the person could go in a shock within probably 15 to 30 seconds they are panicking they're crying flight nurse Julie goens knew that time was critical got you okay we don't want to waste any time for a trauma patient they have a go golden hour where you need to get them to the Trauma Centers for the victims this brief but precious span of time could determine who would live and who would die as helicopter Crews raced to the scene and before disaster became a [Music] tragedy on July 1st 2000 a festive afternoon of wine and music turned into a nightmare [Music] [Applause] [Music] at the popular lwn Winery on an island in Lake Erie a crowded Terrace had collapsed with no warning dozens of people fell over 20 ft into an unused Cellar a fleet of Rescue helicopters was dispatched to the winery within minutes of the first distress call contact Cleveland air traffic controllers for me and get some air space the sheriff's department knew that the number of emergency flights could jeopardize routine air traffic of coll flight controllers in Cleveland had to clear the flight pass [Music] quickly dozens of commercial airliners were rerouted and the lifeflight helicopters race North across the Great Lake can you give me a number still it was clear that a disaster of this magnitude could not be handled by the flights alone hi this is Sheriff's Office we've got Kataba fire and Route with their Mass casual trailer we've had a Terrace collapse at lon's winery can we get a ferry boat to transport that over there fairies of all sizes were called into service to transport personnel and equipment [Music] Chief Mark Wilhelm of the Puttin Bay volunteer fire department hurried to the dock and caught one of the first fairies to the [Music] island as his 5minute Crossing began the chief called for an update got to leave here in a little bit it was worse than anyone had [Music] thought nearly 100 people had been injured but the extent of their injuries was unknown many were still buried under tons of rubble we're going to need to Stage uh approximately 20 to 25 squads somewhere down there in your parking lot critical patients like Joel and reallyy had to be evacuated quickly joelan indicated to nurse Linda sha that she couldn't breathe on yourself okay her ribs were broken and both her lungs had been punctured this paramedic said I need you to put your hands on her chest because she has flail chest and he was trying to tape her down to a board to help immobilized her chest so I had my hands on her and she was yelling and yelling at me because it hurt and I told her I was sorry and um and I could feel her bones moving under my hands it was very uh Eerie was it was very hard I told her my name's Londa I said I'm GNA be here with you what's your name my name is Jo Allen and she said have you seen my husband Ken in spite of her pain all Joellen really cared about was her children and her husband Ken the couple had been separated in the collapse I didn't know if I'd see Ken I had no idea nobody had I didn't know where he was okay Jo Ellen's chest had been crushed between huge concrete blocks she was an excruciating pain as paramedic struggled to stabilize her she was desperate to know if her husband was safe or even alive Linda shell promised she would search for Ken and let him know Joe Ellen was on her way to the hospital as the next wave of helicopters arrived patients were moved from the triage area all of the critical and serious patients were taken up to the landing area and they were getting there by ambulance some were getting there by pickup trucks some were getting there by a wagon every second counted rescue crews move critical patients to The Landing Zone any way they could [Music] Joel en reallyy was one of the first victims evacuated paramedics would stabilize her on board our goal is to get him out of the scene as rapidly as possible this was where we had to triage through the sickest and and determin that they were the ones that needed to go first as the LifeLight helicopter raced for the main Joel en really could only think of her husband when I was on the helicopter looking out the window I realized where's Ken is he in the same shape I am is he alive I you know I had I had no idea at the same time Linda rushed back into the collapse as she had promised three one she found Ken reallyy pinned under Jagged slabs of concrete you got medic out here I was in a lot of pain but I wasn't worried about my pain cuz I could breathe fine and I knew that I was going to make it at least and I was worried about my wife because I didn't know where she was and uh he learned his wife was on her way to the mainland there's about four guys that lifted me over onto a uh a board a backboard I guess it was and they car actually carried me out and then they set us in the in the uh yard outside the winery and they were checking us over then for injuries and if they could do anything at that particular time they did [Music] the number of severely injured grew there were not enough helicopters available Ken was taken to the dock for transport by ferry booat the Coast Guard arrived on the scene just in time according to fetty Officer Jennifer zawistowski we got off the boat and it was just total chaos I had a lady grab a hold of my shirt and said my husband can't breathe he's having a hard time breathing so it was kind of grab our bags and go and just start doing our thing we really didn't once we got onto the island we really didn't have time to think about anything we just had to react the Coast Guard assessed the situation and help set up the triage area allowing other Rescuers to remove victims trapped in the rubble with so many lives hanging in the balance removing victims was difficult and stressful even for a trained professional like Gary roesy I mean that's this concrete was heavy duty weight and you had to get like five six seven eight guys to pick up small pieces when that pressure is relieved the person could go rot away in the shock because if their bones are crushed and their ribs are crushed into the lungs and you take that pressure off Bango okay it's automatic shot the person just Fades right out that's one the ones that those are the ones you have to rush out quickly fairy boats had been dispatched to the island to drop off emergency equipment and transport patients back to the mainland the first ferry boat approached the winery as the captain turned his radio to emergency Channel 16 he learned of the chaos awaiting him on the Dock scores of walking wounded and the less severely injured waited to board the ship rescue vehicles moved out as less seriously injured victims were evacuated [Music] the most serious cases were transported to the mainland by helicopter despite the chaos and with dozens of rescue teams deployed a system began to emerge when when we were Landing it was amazing there was just helicopters everywhere you could see and they were lined up five six in a row at at the Landing Strip it was an assembly line the helicopter would land the crew would get out we'd load two more in shut the doors they'd be on their way another one would just be completing their loading process in the meantime another one would be landing they were coming in they were leaving there was another one coming in it was non-stop there was never a break in the action where you were sitting around waiting for a helicopter in the triage area rescue Personnel question the victims your legs many were disord oriented and Confused this made the job more difficult and cost valuable time some patients were unable to talk at all the more seriously injured had to be strapped to backboards and immobilized before they could be moved Beth roach struggled to respond to questions but the pain was too great are you having a hard time breathing it was um pain that I'd never experienced before hopefully won't again pain that um shooting pain just just you know if I try to put any pressure on my leg or foot at all just shooting pain and uh just if I tried to move it that's why the biggest thing was trying to straighten it if I tried to straight it I mean let alone put your weight on it if I tried to straighten it the pain would just shoot up through my side [Music] for paramedics it was an indication that her pelvis had been [Music] crushed they decided to put her on the next available flight out Beth was moved to a waiting pickup truck they had to hurry she needed to be stabilized but even the slightest move movement was painful the ride to the airst strip was torture every time the pickup went over a bump she felt excruciating pain travel the length of her body hang in I took a little truck ride to one helicopter it was full so then they took me to another helicopter and remarkably put me in the helicopter and there was my friend we were in the same helicopter rode in the same helicopter to the hospital which was amazing to me CU you know all the people that were hurt we ended up in the same [Music] helicopter the Life Flight helicopters raced back to the mainland they had to get the patients to Trauma Centers before it was too late [Music] on the afternoon of July 1st 2000 an island resort in Ohio became the scene of a mass casualty [Music] [Applause] incident with no warning the lon's winery Terrace collapsed nearly 100 people were buried under an avalanche of concrete tables chairs and twisted rebar medical helicopters transported the critically injured to the mainland they were in a Race Against Time four area hospitals had been designated to receive trauma patients they each had training programs and drilled for mcis or mass casualty incidents now as the patient streamed in they implemented MCI emergency procedures on a normal stable patient we wait till the blades shut down we shut down both the engines takes about 2 to 3 minutes then we unload them um with everything shut down the day of the winery collapse we unloaded everyone hot which saves us a lot of time When we arrive in the the trauma room you're met by probably 15 to 20 people for one [Music] patient the emergency room staff at St Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo Ohio had prepared for the worst still it was impossible to predict the scope of the injuries according to Dr Scott scroby I think part of being in the ER that all the ER doctors uh adapt to is that um you have that fear every day that there's going to be something that's going to come in at that moment that you're not going to be able to figure out quickly enough or that you're not going to have the facilities for the first patient to arrive in the emergency room went into cardiac arrest do have radio patient has heart ton Bre Bre bilaterally continue with it [Music] in less than 3 minutes the trauma team revived [Music] him is unstable has an obvious [Music] malion over his wall [Music] the patient was going to [Music] survive minutes later their next case arrive with every new patient that comes in the door you're reprioritizing your entire ER so if you had your priori set up with your firstand patients as soon as that 11th hits the door you have to reorganize everything again the next patient to arrive at St Vincent Mercy Medical Center was joeel and reallyy concrete blocks had crushed her chest her ribs had been broken puncturing her lungs the ER staff held out hope that Joel and really would survive they x-rayed the patient's body feel some pressure as and inserted tubes into her chest allowing trapped air to escape from her lungs it was terrible it was bad I woke up and um I was crying and I had tubes everywhere all over me but that was probably the worst at the site volunteers and rescue workers evacuated the injured they were extracted from tons of concrete and Twisted Metal and mov to triage areas in local hospitals as quickly as possible among the thousands gathered at the winery that day were many off-duty medical professionals their quick response in the minutes after the collapse and the resistance in prepping the trauma patients for their flights saved countless victims lives ferry boats summoned by radio took pressure off air Crews by transporting less seriously injured patients this is the victory rad we're headed into the mainland dock we've got engine person scores of other victims arrived on the mainland by boat they were placed into waiting ambulances and rush to emergency rooms and makeshift Trauma Centers throughout the region the fact that the victims that spent the day at a winery made diagnosis difficult when you have an intoxicated patient they're an impaired patient you you can't take things uh at face value because with the alcohol it numbs your senses and your own judgment and so what happens is instead of being one patient one exam it's one patient two or three exams so instead of just doing 50 exams you're doing 150 exams throughout the ER just to keep on circling around and make sure that uh you didn't miss something or distracting injury mcder Hospital in Port Clinton Ohio is a 35 bed facility 46 victims of the winery collapse flooded in in slightly less than 2 hours right yeah we got several hold on one second got yeah mcgr was this uh I I kind of imagine it like a mash unit like you see on TV people running around injured people was laying here there wherever in the hallways uh some were limping around some were on beds couldn't be moved feel about a dozen doctors and 50 other staff rushed to the hospital to tend to the victims at times they wondered how many more patients would Drive can Wile them all I thought I would stop seeing patients after a while but every they just kept coming Ken reallyy was one of those sent to McGruder x-rays revealed that one of his hands had nearly been torn off let me listen to you again my wrist as long as I didn't look at it it was fine because it didn't look too too good it was turned back completely around and they reset it at myrder right away and they put five pins in Beth roach was on a medical helicopter back on the mainland her vital signs were monitored closely on the flight she was in critical condition at Metro Health in Cleveland ER doctors determined that she had sustained broken vertebrae and a shattered pelvis I heard them say they were going to send me into surgery and that scared me cuz I was like I've never been surgery you know and I really really was wanting my parents there you know before anything like that happened the damage to best pelvis was extensive surgery couldn't wait for doctors treating the injured time itself had become an [Music] enemy scores of the seriously injured awaited transport to area hospitals rescue Personnel on the scene hope they could get them help in [Music] [Applause] time the constant Roar of medical helicopters over Lake Harry was an unmistakable sign that something had gone very wrong on Tiny Middle Bass Island patrons of the lwn Winer drank and danced on the Terrace just before 5:00 p.m. the UN think will [Music] [Music] happen the Terrace collapsed beneath their feet 100 people plunged 20 ft into a wine Celler emergency crews and volunteers work nonstop transporting victims to area Trauma Centers they loaded victim after victim into air transports working as quickly as possible they had to make every second count we will do a lot of interventions in the helicopter we won't waste a lot of time on the ground doing things that we can do while we're in route to the hospital Cleveland Center this is Life Flight one we are inbound with two patients standby for blood typing and vital signs on board the Rescue helicopters paramedics worked non-stop to stabilize the patients they started IVs to hydrate the victims and prevent shock they matched blood types and radioed the results to waiting hospitals so blood supplies would be on hand when they arrived after 90 minutes the situation was under control the most critically injured were placed on backboards and then quickly moved from the collapse site Gary roesy a college football coach assisted in the rescue his first aid training and strength were valuable assets but his compassion made this Grim task more difficult you've got to get those the most severe out of there and there's some people that you know they're calling for you you get me out of here you know I don't want to die then I said you have to wait we have to get the most severe out you know you're talking when a person's talking to you okay basically they're okay okay you got to get the ones that are out that you see the head injuries that the pressure is on the concrete and stuff that they're not making a sound those are the people that you see the limbs sticking out of the concrete pieces and the tables on top of them you got to get that those personel out as fast as you can and it's hard choice to not to help a person while they're trapped The Rescuer goal was to get the most severely injured out first victims with less severe injuries would have to wait so we come back to you I said I'll be back I'll be right back I promise you but they're sitting there and and they're trying to reach for you okay and you can't you can't be there to help them and that's a very very tough decision in anybody's life it it's it's critical backboards were only used for those unable to walk on their own once the concrete slabs were lifted anyone that could move under their own power was expected to do so even if they needed additional help that's when you have to really go with the flow and you got to separate your feelings and emotions and just get the job done some of the remaining victims people buried under the rubble were unconscious they appeared to be seriously injured Coast Guard paramedics including Petty Officer Jennifer zawistowski continued to assess each of the patients injuries you having some chest pain once things started calming down it you know we regrew and just kind of went through everybody else again and made sure everybody that needed to be off the island was off how are those back board's doing supplies ran short emergency crews were forced to improvise everything from neck braces to bandages we ran out of everything we used every every kit from every boat that we had we went through all the bandages everything we went through we had absolutely no money medical supplies here they even ran out of backboards rescue Personnel pulled doors off the winery and taped patients to them for transport about a dozen injured Winery patrons were still being cared for in the triage area but despite their efforts the day was not a complete success for flight nurse Julie goens it was Bittersweet losing one patient out of nearly a hundred is still just as difficult as if it were one patient out of five it was very tough to lose that one man after seeing the wreckage I couldn't believe that we didn't lose more than one patient sounds good as afternoon fell on July 1st 2000 the winery collapse had claimed its first victim emergency Personnel from across Northern Ohio were dispatched to the scene of a mass casualty incident 100 people had been injured when the Terrace of a Winer R collapsed at the site Chief Mark Wilhelm of the Putin Bay Fire Department brought in a dog to search for any hidden victims I checked all the that area there the only thing better watch The Things fall on none were found miraculously only one man died in the collapse rescue efforts on the island were wrapping up when we were at the landing strip and we just had a few patients left everybody kind of started to feel a big sense of relief I think that's when it started to hit us the magnitude of the incident but at hospitals on the mainland the work had just begun nearly 100 people had been injured in the collapse some of them seriously many were in intensive care units and had undergone surgery using trucks ferry boats and helicopters 25 rescue teams had moved over 80 injured people to four area hospitals all in 0 m it was a textbook example of a successful rescue operation in a mass casualty incident in the midst of the chaos volunteers like Gary roesy stayed at the scene until the end I stayed there till the last Lady I saw her and I was trying to comfort her just by talking to her and everything we waited till the dust was coming and with the blades and everything and when she flew away that's when I just sat down on the grass and I said I need a break at St Vincent's Hospital Joel and reallyy was still in danger she needed surgery to repair a dislocated hip I'm okay right now her punctured lungs would have to heal slowly on their own she was kept under constant monitoring certainly we realized that she was somebody who was sick enough that might not make it and um a lot of times initially you don't even have a good idea of the extent of their injuries um on the other hand the fact that she was awake and alert and able to move all of her extremities um is reassuring to us at McGruder Hospital a second examination of kenry Le's x-rays revealed his back was broken struck he would need further surgery the L if you have somebody that has an unstable spine such as Ken and he gets up and starts walking around or it collapses further and pushes into the nerve Roots then you have paraplegia or nerve damage and that would be uh worse than the disaster itself But Ken was only interested in finding his wife hang in response to his persistent concern for Joellen the nursing staff had tracked her down at St Vincent's she's doing fine despite the risk Ken insisted on being transferred by ambulance to St Vincent's so he could be with his wife my nurse asked me if uh if I wanted to go up and see my wife of course yeah I haven't seen her for so long and I wanted to see how she was doing and it was good therapy for both of us to be able to see each other they wheeled my bed head up to her room and uh neither one of us could hardly move but eye contact was uh said a lot that that day they re reunited us then and that was the first time I'd seen him and they backed the beds up we were feet to feet and we both just did a high five to each other and it it was pretty [Music] emotional today Joel and Ken continue to deal with their injuries once Avid exercise Buffs they sometimes find it difficult to get up in the morning still they are grateful to be alive and to have each other you need to know what people have done for you and without some of the people you you owe everything to them you know to be alive I'm very grateful to all of them because if not I probably wouldn't be here there was so much help that came right after the accident it was just almost like they was standing there waiting for it to happen a lot of of Good Help that came fast which saved a lot of lives the training and quality of the Emergency Medical Services in Hospital trauma care has helped Joellen and Ken rebuild their lives a year later Beth roach helped arrange a gathering for survivors of the winery collapse to thank the medical and emergency workers for their dedication not bad I know it's their job but you still you're still very grateful for the help that they gave you I mean I've I've said it a few times and I just I want to get that across that how much I really appreciated what what they did and how they stepped up how how things went down over there I really don't think they could have done a better job the victims were not the only ones affected by the incident the winery's former owner is still dealing with lawsuits that could Mount into the millions of dollars Engineers later determined that the deadly collapse of the concrete Terrace at the winery was caused by a structural problem the residents of the remote island are still trying to put the tragic event behind them [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]