Uganda bombing

Posted by admin on Jul 12, 2010 at 9:00 am America/Chicago

Woke up this morning to see the death toll in Uganda is up to 74 according to CNN. Terrorism is particularly ugly because it severely reduces the time responders have to get to someone before they die and creates a different set of challenges. Surviving a building collapse is easier-- if you don't die right away, and you are a surface victim or within 20 feet of the surface of rubble, the odds are in your favor that rescuers will be able to find you in time. But an explosion... the victims nearest the blast are killed instantly, the ones trapped within 20 feet are badly burned and require immediately assistance to survive. And the people beyond 20 feet in the interior, well, that's where having robots can help by going farther than existing technologies. I can't tell from the pictures but it seems like the explosions were in relatively low occupancy structures versus big high rises, so there may not be tons of rubble to sort through- the local responders with existing tools can get in and get to the survivors. Let's hope so. The horror and senselessness of it all is hard to bear and our prayers go out the victims and their families.