Monday 14 April 2008

A bad day In Gunung Nuang

On Sunday, at 1900hrs, I received a call from Gerakan to report duty. A member of JPAM was struck by lightning on top of Gunung Nuang. I immediately geared up and rushed to Gerakan over in Jalan Semarak.

Upon reaching Gerakan, our heavy rescue vehicle & 4WD had already been deployed. I went to location with the Ops Officer. With sirens blaring and strobe light flashing, we were worried as we do not know the condition of our guy, Mujahid. A direct hit could be fatal. Also on our mind was 27 student from SM Taman Tasek Ampang. The program was organized by MPAJ, and the students were from Kadet Pertahanan Awam, Kadet Bomba, Pengakap etc. Since most of the students were from Kadet Pertahanan Awam, MPAJ had requested that we accompany the group.

A call was made to our friends from the 4WD community. Abg Halim and his PAT team came with 15 4WDs. A big number. We have a long working relationship with them. Some of us, including myself, are also part of that community. Then Abg Aziz & his MARES gang came. Who says the spirit of voluntarism in Malaysia is dead? After all, we from JPAM too were volunteers in our own right.

Anyway...on with the story. It was raining heavily, making the track muddy, slippery, treacherous and dangerous. A forward base was set up at Loloq. It takes many hours of walking to their location from there as there is no track..even for 4WDs. Suddenly a breakthrough. we managed to call them (this area is known to be a blind spot for telecommunication). Mujahid was snapping in and out of consciousness, coughing blood and was having bouts of convulsions.

An airlift was ruled out because it was too dark and the weather was bad. I informed them that once stable, they have to hump him out of there on foot to base camp, and bring him down by 4WD from there. Since we invoke the esprit de corp similar to the army...'we never leave a man behind'.

To cut the story short, we managed to bring everyone down the next morning at 0900. Mujahid was transferred to the waiting ambulance and rushed to Hospital Ampang (see picture). Where was I amidst all this? I was the dude coordinating the rescue, upon instruction from the Ops Officer. I was also the dude rendering medical assistance in the ambulance.

Upon reaching the hospital, I made sure he receives the best medical care. He was young, 21, and he was scared but tried to put on a brave face. I guess who wouldn't be. His pulse rate was not stable...70...90...111..78...125, he was coughing blood with a bloody urine. So I told the ambulance to go back and I stayed until his family came at 1600hrs.

The students were also taken for a check up. Alhamdulillah, everyone ok. What I had seen is a group of people, who actually took leave from work on Monday, to rescue those involved. The PAT group even sacrificed their personal 4WDs and went up. My hat's off to them.

If you can read Malay, here's the link to the news article...

1 comment:

free diVer said...

musim hujan sekarang nie, hope he recover well..

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