MELISSA BLOCK, host:
In Haiti, search and rescue efforts continue, but it's been three days now since the earthquake struck and hopes of finding survivors are dwindling. For the last two days, the Icelandic urban search and rescue team has been hunting for signs of life in the rubble of Port-au-Prince. I spoke earlier today with team leader, Gisli Olafsson. With so many buildings in ruins, I asked him how his team decides where to start.
Mr. GISLI OLAFSSON (Team Leader, Icelandic Urban Search and Rescue Team): You try to focus on buildings where you have a lot of people potentially being in there and that there is reports of the voices coming out from underneath the rubble. Buildings like schools, hospitals, supermarkets, and government buildings where you have a lot of people working.
BLOCK: And yesterday you did have some success at a supermarket that had collapsed. Tell us about that.
Mr. OLAFSSON: Yes, yes. We spent most of yesterday working at a supermarket called the Caribbean Supermarket. And we were quite lucky and happy that we managed to get three women out of there alive. The first two we managed to get out within about an hour of getting there. The third one took quite a lot longer since she was the buried way in the middle of the building which was a four-story building that had totally collapsed. Luckily for her she had been in a space that for some miracle managed to not crush together but to keep what we call a void, which is the areas that we are mainly trying to look in because that's where survivors are.
BLOCK: It seems that there are very few teams right now on the ground doing what you're doing. And I wonder if the window has passed really where search and rescue teams can make a difference if they were to arrive now or in the next couple of days.
Mr. OLAFSSON: Well, during the first day, you know, we only have like four teams that were in operation, but the last night and yesterday afternoon and this morning, we've had a quite a number of teams to show up. So we have about 18 to 20 teams now that are actually working. We often talk about, you know, the initial few 72 hours or so that are the crucial. What really makes the difference is how the buildings are collapsing though. We talk about very often what we call a pancake collapse, which is where the floors simply line up like pancakes. And in that, that kind of a collapse there is very little possibility of finding anybody alive.
But if it's collapsing in such a way that there are voids then that time can be expended a few more days then it's more a question of how long do you survive without food and water.
BLOCK: There must be a difficult calculus that you have to use when decide it's time to leave. That you - there is no more work, no more function you can provide.
Mr. OLAFSSON: Yes. I mean, it's always hard and when we will make a decision to stop searching, which we certainly have not started talking about down here, it is a very difficult decision to make. But we do that with all the other teams that are here. So, it is based on a lot of experience from a lot of people who've gone to a lot of places like this in the past. And when they believe that there is no more chance, that's unfortunately most often true.
BLOCK: Well, Mr. Olafsson, thanks for making the time to talk with us today.
Mr. OLAFSSON: Oh, you're welcome.
BLOCK: That's Gisli Olafsson. He is a team leader with the Icelandic urban search and rescue in Port-au-Prince.