Texas A&M bonfire disaster Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Texas A&M bonfire disaster - Essay Example This critical essay presents a brief look at what can be learnt from the previously mentioned incident and the essay illustrates how communications play an important role in disaster mitigation and emergency response. On November 18, 1999 preparations for the annual Texas A & M University bonfire which used to be an annual event on the eve of the football game between Texas A & M University and its archrival the University of Texas at Austin went horribly wrong when the forty foot stack which was being constructed for the bonfire collapsed. The collapse occurred during the early morning hours on the previously mentioned date. The stack that was being constructed consisted of approximately 5000 logs which were being stacked for a bonfire and as a result of the collapse twelve people died and another twenty - eight had to be hospitalized with serious injuries. 1 The incident was particularly sad because most of those that suffered were young people who were preparing for what was supposed to be an event that had been a part of the university tradition for a long time. The previously mentioned incident was an emergency response incident and although emergency medical personnel from the University Emergency Medical Service were on the scene at the time of the collapse, a 911 call was considered as being appropriate considering the magnitude of the disaster. The first 911 call was received at the City of College Station’s Emergency Communications Center at 02:43 hours and this means that a delay had possibly occurred before it was decided that a call had to be made for further assistance. The caller had reported that the bonfire stack had collapsed at the university campus and that as many as thirty people were suspected to be trapped under logs. Emergency response was swift and the first ambulance and fire teams arrived on the