The situation in Venezuela is dire.
The scope of the earthquake disaster is hard to imagine. Local firefighters from Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue and Miami Fire Rescue are on the scene, facing a task similar to the one they took on in Surfside five years ago, only many times larger. Instead of one collapsed building, there are dozens, perhaps hundreds.
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The State Department won’t allow the local fire departments to discuss the mission on the ground with us, but we did find an expert who told us that even five days after the earthquake, it is still possible to find and rescue survivors.
“There’s always hope, and one of the trainings is never give up, the heart and the brain tell you there’s no chance, but there’s always a chance,” said Nadav Jerushelmy, a reserve member of Israel’s search-and-rescue team, which has responded to earthquakes and other natural disasters all over the world.
Jerushelmy was part of the effort to find survivors and bodies at the Champlain Towers South collapse five years ago, working grueling, 12-hour shifts alongside the American search and rescue teams. He says his colleagues face a range of threats in Venezuela, from shifting debris, fires breaking out, chemical hazards, and the weather.
“Imagine full gear, helmet, goggles, face mask, it’s a physical challenge,” Jerushelmy said, and an emotional challenge as well. “You need to disconnect, you’re on a mission, you disconnect from the emotion as much as possible.”
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The Israeli team is on the ground in Venezuela, but Jerushelmy, who lives in South Florida, was not called up for this mission. However, he always keeps his gear in his car, in case he gets the call, from helmet and goggles to basic tools.
“Crowbar, it’s something I always carry with me in case of anything, save lives like that,” Jerushelmy said.
The Israeli team calls up reservists like him when they’re needed. As Jerushelmy explained, they always offer to help wherever natural disasters strike, regardless of whether the country in need has friendly relations with Israel. Saving lives and, also, bringing closure to those who are looking for missing loved ones is more important, he said, than politics.
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