BEAUFORT, S.C. - When Mike Shannon and Danny Atchley were buddies in the Navy 30 years ago, they never thought they would be instructing Soldiers and Marines in search and rescue techniques but as the principals in Response International Group (RIG), that's exactly what they do as one of the nation's leading disaster response consultants.
During Shannon's career in the Navy from 1972 to 1976, he taught shoring and damage control in the Philippines. Shoring is the process of supporting a structure in order to prevent collapse. At the time he had to make the training as simple as possible because of the language barrier. He realized that was the best way to continue teaching it.
Shannon later went on to become chief of special operations for the Oklahoma City Fire Department where he refined his skills and was one of the first responders to the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Shannon formed RIG after retiring from the Oklahoma City Fire Department.
"At the Murrah building, there were a lot of things missing or lacking with the first responders," Shannon said. "I wanted to make a difference."
Atchley worked as a photographer for the Oklahoma City Fire Department. He was also one of the first responders at the Murrah building. Atchley said when they got to the scene he asked Shannon whether he needed to be a photographer or a firefighter. Shannon advised him that, "If you're not doing your job (as a photographer) then it won't get done."
"We were so focused on the fire and there was so much smoke, we didn't know the building blew up," said Atchley.
Atchley decided to document the men who were going into the building. At one point he had to stop taking pictures to help rescue three small children. Achtley continues to work towards the refinement of disaster response techniques and remains motivated by a tragic memory from that fateful day at the Murrah building.
"There was a woman trapped in the basement, pinned down by a one-ton cement block. I couldn't think of anything to use except a crane. We had five guys down there who refused to leave, even during the bomb scares, until we could get her out. We were finally told to evacuate or be arrested. When we returned, she was dead. If I had known then that all we needed was a six-foot crowbar, we could have saved her," recalled Atchley.
"In the real world, a collapsed building is nothing but problems," said Shannon. "Common sense doesn't start as common. You have to do it so many times so it becomes second nature. Then it's common."
They pooled their experiences from the Navy and the Murrah building to develop a tool box of essential small, non-mechanical items so that rescue crews have something to use other than heavy machinery.. When used together those simple tools are highly effective in the critical early stages of disaster rescue operations.
"I'll move one-ton block by myself using that box," said Shannon.
RIG teaches an advanced class for rescue workers. The first thing they have the students do is move a two-ton cement block with a six-foot crowbar and a team of five people. RIG also builds collapsed structures, referred to as "˜rubble piles', for the military to train on. The piles utilize strategically placed openings to represent rooms or offices and tunnels leading in and out of the structure. The RIG team mainly supervises the rescue workers and only intervenes in an emergency situation.
"No one has time to make their mistakes and ours," said Shannon. "We're trying to make a difference now, to work smarter and make a bigger difference for the community.
That is why RIG is so important to the members of its crew. Knowing that they teach rescue workers critical skills which could save lives in the early minutes of building disasters.