This is necessary to survive a landslide – VG

Nine people are still missing after Wednesday’s dramatic landslide at Ask in Gjerdrum on Wednesday night. One person was found dead after a search of the landslide area.

As time passes, the probability of finding survivors decreases more and more. But the rescue team still hopes to find people in airbags in the building mass:

– Medically speaking, you can live for several days if you have air. So, as long as there are airbags, it is still possible to survive, says Police Chief Ida Melbo Øystese in the East Police District at a news conference Saturday morning.

The head of the air ambulance department at Oslo University Hospital, Christian Buskop, says that there are three prerequisites that are particularly important to survive in the current situation:

• Room with air inside (or access to fresh air)
• Chances to keep warm
• Access to water one way or another

May drip water

Based on this, Buskop believes there are many indications that we are running out of time. But it is still not impossible:

– In theory, survivors can be found. Then we are talking about people who may still be alive after a major trauma, buried inside a house. There is probably mud in every room.

It also has a lot to say about the depth of the remains of the houses. The deeper, the more dangerous. People inside the remains of the houses may also have suffered mechanical damage.

Read also: We know this about the landslide

The temperature in the landslide area is around zero degrees. But because this happened at night, for example, someone may still have a duvet that can keep them warm. Basically, there is a lot of water on the ground, that is, the mud. It can also drip from one place:

– If you manage to sit in a 0.5 x 0.5 meter corner of a house that is not broken, the water may drip from somewhere.

It is in these houses that the rescue team is now watching. On Saturday, ground personnel were dispatched to the landslide area. On Friday night, they ended the search ashore because darkness came and the task leader thought it too dangerous to continue. Tonight, therefore, they have searched with drones and heat search cameras.

– People have long survived during earthquakes. I think the world record is 27 days, but it was in warmer weather in China, says Buskop.

A Haitian man also survived after being found in the ruins after 27 days.

13.7 degree body temperature

Several of the people who were rescued from the area of ​​the landslide on the same day it occurred had a body temperature of 30 degrees. It is possible to survive in temperatures well below this, because the body needs less oxygen at lower body temperatures.

With each degree that body temperature drops, oxygen demand decreases by about 10 percent.

If a person has a cardiac arrest after gradual cooling, it is possible to revive. An example of this is Anna Bågenholm, who survived a body temperature of 13.7 degrees. Just over four months after the accident, he practically recovered.

At the same time, Buskop adds that even if it’s a possibility, it doesn’t mean it’s likely:

– Everything is possible and that is what is so difficult. You find the impossible and it makes you think that then it is probable.

Looking at buildings

The police chief assures in the press conference that the clay mass makes there are fewer air pockets than in other types of landslides.

– Clay landslides have a very liquid mass, and there are high forces at play, which means there are not as many air pockets in these types of landslides.

Øystese, however, says they see masses of buildings that appear fairly intact on the surface.

– There we can think that there are air pockets, he says, and emphasizes that there is still hope.

– This is very specifically what we focus on, and as long as we have specific work tasks that must be performed in order to provide greater security in relation to the decision of how long we will last, we will continue.