CAPE CORAL, FLA — A "chorus of chaos." Those are the conditions that Dr. Benjamin Abo says crews are working under as they rescue trapped victims of the Surfside building collapse.
"There's a lot of generators, commotion around the periphery, and then basically organized chaos," he said, "Every scene that we come across whether it's building collapse or a car wreck has its own personal touch so to speak."
Dr. Abo specializes in emergency medicine and drove all the way over from the Naples area to help.
He's a member of the Southwest Florida Urban Search and Rescue Task Force, they're a. team that specializes in disaster response.
He tells FOX 4 his primary job is to help assess victims the moment they're pulled out of the wreckage.
"Are they breathing, is there circulation? Do I need to do immediate procedures or medications to stabilize their life?" he said.
But when he isn't doing that, he says spends some time working on a special side project.
"I've been picking up a lot of the pictures," he said.
He's been collecting scattered mementos, from the homes of those who lived in that building. Even though he isn't sure if or how he'll return them.
"Some of the pictures I've seen are from huge personal moments in their lives and some of them, I don't know if they survived. I don't know if they were here," he said.
And he adds that when it comes to those pictures and the rescue efforts, despite the emotional toll it takes, he plans to stay out there until the rescue efforts are finished.
