My day off from work, my son, daughter and myself had an early dinner in our condo in Fremont that day so we could watch the world series without interruption. The pregame activities had started and my son and I had just gotten comfortable on my water bed when the heavy wooden headboard starting swaying back and forth. We both jumped off as fast as we could to avoid getting crushed, my son went to stand under the door frame as they were taught to do in school at the time. The television went completely black, our lights flickered but did not go out. After a minute or so, the television came back on with announcements saying the Bay Bridge collapsed, unknown number of cars tumbled into the water, and the game was cancelled. After making sure my children were okay, our home was secure, discovering our phone service was still up, I called into work so see if they needed people. As an Emergency Services Dispatcher for the County of Alameda, I was sure they were very busy. Our office in San Leandro, also contained the Office of Emergency Services. The supervisor told me to come in to grab my headset and then head to the Oakland Office of the California Highway Patrol as their office had taken a bit hit with collapsed walls etc. I asked the supervisor if the freeways from Fremont to San Leandro were passable, he didnt know but advised me to use city streets instead of the freeways. Once I arrived at work,the building was in total chaos, phones ringing nonstop, people running from one end of the building to the other as internal communication capabilities were down. My assignment to the CHP cancelled as more runners were needed in our own center, as heads of Alameda Countys Medical Services, Alameda County Fire Chief, Fire Captains, the Sheriff, Alameda County building inspectors, public work directors, etc all reported to the Office of Emergency Services. All telephone and radio requests for these agencies came through our office and since internal communications were down, all information and requests for services came through our 911 center and we hand carried the request or message to the proper person. At that time, the Alameda County dispatch center handled all ambulance calls for the entire county, we were the county coordinator for mutual aid response for search and rescue, law enforcement and the fire department. We were overwhelmed with requests for service, not just for hours but for days and even weeks afterward. I was assigned to ambulance service days later when the radio buzzed with excitement when a survivor had been located in one of the crushed cars in the Cypress Structure. I think the driverss name was Barney and his vehicle is now on display, I believe at Ripleys Believe It or Not in San Francisco. We listened to our radios the night of the earthquake to hear doctors make decisions about amputations, firefighters, ambulance personnel, and police officers/deputy sheriffs, taking heroic measures to try to save lives throughout the county. We cried when they couldnt, cheered when they did. We gave thanks at the end of each shift that our family, our homes were intact or only suffered minor damage. Im retired now, but certain calls stick in your memory, the loma prieta earthquake, the Oakland Fire Storm, the shootings of four Oakland police officers, the list goes on...
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 10:02:39 +0000
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