Rick, thanks for sharing your friend's account. I hope your country will soon get back to a "new normal."
Elizabeth
______________________________
Elizabeth Meylor
Library and Records Manager
HGA, Inc.
Architecture, Engineering, Interior Design
701 Washington Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55401
612-758-4588
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______________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Rick Barry
Sent: Friday, July 08, 2005 9:41 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: OT: Thoughts are with colleagues in the UK
In a message dated 7/8/05 12:02:51 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Like other friends and colleagues, I grieve the loss to our wonderful friends
in the UK. Below is a note from a friend of my family who lives nearby
Edgeware road station.
Regards,
Rick Barry
www.mybestdocs.com
Cofounder Open Reader Consortium
www.openreader.org
==============================
Dear Family and Friends,
Thanks for all your concern, telephone calls and emails. It really was a
horrible experience on Thursday 7th July. John and I are well but we must pray
for those who have died and those who are badly injured (no limbs etc).
I was at home getting ready to go to the high street and do some shopping .
John had left home at 8.30 am and actually passed the Edgware Tube station
about 15 minutes before the bomb went off!
As I was getting ready to go, a friend phoned and gave me the news. I
switched on the news and confirmed that there had been a series of bomb blasts. I
called John and found out that he was safe and was busy working.
A little bit of news - which you may have already have heard on the news
channels.
1. The Emergency Services were nothing short of being completely
professional. As this attack has been expected for some time now, they had rehearsed
'Operation Cobra'. With our involvement in Iraq it was inevitable. It appears
that our security services had foiled a number of attacks but one can't stop them
all in such a big city.
2. The Islamic militancy group could not have timed it better with the G8 in
Gleneagles - all the security had moved north!
3. It was like preparing for war! The TV and radio stations immediately
instructed everyone not to go into London; everyone must stay indoors - at home,
in school or in the office - and wait for further instructions. We were not
to call the Emergency Services unless our own life was in danger. And that all
public transport had been suspended - we were asked to keep tuned to the
media services for instructions, especially those who travel in Central London.
The underground system alone carries over 3 million people a day.
They stopped all public transport to check all the busses and tubes in case
they were unexplored devices in them.
4. The police appear to have come out from the woodwork - they were
everywhere! In the midst of the traffic in London, they kept cars going on one lane on
either side and cleared two lanes for the ambulances, fire engines etc. The
neighboring counties sent their emergency services to assist.
5. They cleared all the hospitals of all non-emergency operations and kept
an enlarged A& E room at every hospital. Make-shift centers to treat the
walking wounded came up everywhere - the Hilton Hotel near Edgware Road was used as
one such centre. Medical personal who had also taken part in the drill
appeared from everywhere with back packs of medical supplies and in neon orange
outfits with 'Doctor' written on the back. In some cases apparently some
patients were so bad they had to be operated at the scene and it was marvelous to see
how quickly and how prepared they were with operating equipment to take down
though the tunnels.
6. London Underground was also well prepared. They immediately appeared on
the scene and cleared the underground stations showing people trapped where to
go and channeling them outside; the lights in the stations had fused and in
the darkness there was confusion, so flashlights were used to help people.
Apparently this is what saved those injured because they were able to clear
people. The medics were able to get to those severely injured quickly. Later as
they said on TV, that it is the first 30 minutes that saves lives.
As you know London has four levels of underground tube and some of the
explosions took place between stations. The Emergency Services had to get down to
the levels affected, past all the wreckage etc to stabilize the injured and
bring them up on stretchers, it was a real feat especially as the bomb blasts
meant that there was also structural damage to the walls, ceiling etc... At the
time of writing to you yesterday they were still pulling people out of the
mangled wreck of the tubes.
The people in London too rallied around. Construction workers nearby
realized what was happening and were the first to give blood; loads of others
followed. The news also reports that people were relatively calm. They obeyed
orders quickly; there was no screaming (except for those who were badly injured),
or getting frantic. American tourists here were fascinated. They could only
say that the people were stoic and were truly the grand children of those in
the blitz in the Second World War. They even said that in the States there
would have been emotions shown and hysterical people screaming. People took it in
their stride, were led to safety to the make-shift shelters nearby and were
seen by the medics quickly.
Tony Blaire gave a speech not of revenge or of hate, but of togetherness and
of unity among all the communities. As Duncan and Mary can vouch for, there
are loads of Muslims here. Various Muslim leaders came out with priests and
bishops to condemn the act and to say how united the various faiths were.
By the way, Catholic priests and Anglican vicars also were part of the
emergency operation, going down into the tunnels wearing the Emergency Outfit which
said ' RC Priest' or 'Vicar'. This was particularly moving for me because the
practice drill had taken those of Christian faith who were in a serious
condition, into consideration. The priests were not with the walking wounded in the
shelters (who would get treatment and be okay), but they were taken down deep
into the tunnels to administer to those critical injured and to bless those
who had died. They too came with their back packs with holy water and oils.
Finally, Transport For London aware about those already in the city and in
schools, put on extra double decker busses to ferry people to the stations just
outside London and to take school children to pick up spots. Instructions
were given through the media and one had to listen and act. They even went into
details such as moving workers, starting from one part of London at 3 pm to
get them to a station which was operating, to get home.
Today 90% of the transport has been resumed (the bomb areas are crime sites
and forensics will not reopen them until they have all the information they
need).
I do not know if you saw the flowers and posters put outside the stations
where the blasts occurred. Some of the posters say 'We are all British - we are
one people' , 'We will not be intimidated or defeated', 'You bombed the
wrong city if your intention was to cause chaos; 'We were never overcome in the
War'. There appears to be a defiant attitude in the people of London and they
are also very resilient. Most people have gone back to work today, although
schools are closed. This is the last two weeks of school especially for those
sitting the A levels.
Last week there were huge celebrations of the battle of Trafalgar - the
British victory over the combined French and Spanish navy. Then last week more
celebrations: there was Live 8, the British presidency of the G8; the British
Presidency of the European Union; of UNESCO - for the next two years; Winning the
Olympic Games bid in 2012. There has been so much celebration, and then this
attack.
The Queen is visiting those in hospital today as well as the families who
lost members. She is flying the Union Flag at half-mast over Buckingham Palace
(She had to remove her Standard, which flies when she is in BP). As she
cannot fly her Standard at half-mast she is flying the Union Flag.
Thank you once again for thinking of us.
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