Rescue Teams Reach Workers Trapped In Tunnel: Here's What Comes Next

The Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation is inching towards success after manual drilling teams reached the trapped workers and the pipe they will escape through was put in place. Final preparations are now being made for the workers to be brought out. Medical teams are on the spot to take the workers to a makeshift hospital where they will undergo a proper check-up after their 17-day nightmare.

• With the escape pipe finally in place, personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) would reach the workers and explain to them how they will be taken out. This is because the escape pipe is about two-and-a-half feet wide and the points where the pipes were welded together have sharp edges that can leave them injured.
• Initially, the plan was that the workers will crawl out of the tunnel, but keeping their health condition in mind, it was decided that they will be wheeled out on stretchers just wide enough to fit in the pipe.
• Forty-one ambulances are parked right outside the tunnel to rush the workers to a makeshift hospital near the site. Once there, the workers will undergo a medical examination to see how this long, traumatic confinement has affected their physical and mental well-being.
• At the 41-bed hospital, doctors and other medical staff are ready to receive and treat the workers. One key concern is the temperature difference between the tunnel and the outside and how the workers' bodies respond to it.
• Outside the tunnel are relatives of the workers who have their fingers crossed till their loved ones are finally brought out. One relative will accompany each worker after they are out. This is clearly aimed at giving them mental support after their harrowing experience.