'We're not stopping': Virginia rescue team searches for quake survivors in Venezuela

Amna Nawaz:

The search-and-rescue efforts in Venezuela continued today one week after a double earthquake struck that country. But fewer and fewer survivors are being found. A Venezuelan lawmaker today said nearly 2,300 people are now confirmed dead. Tens of thousands remain missing. And medical professionals say the biggest danger now is treating survivors wounds and infections.

I'm joined now by Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department Battalion Chief Daniel Gajewski. His team has 79 people and six dogs in Venezuela.

Chief Gajewski, welcome to the "News Hour." Thanks for joining us.

Daniel Gajewski:

Absolutely. Thank you.

Amna Nawaz:

So give us a sense of what it's like on the ground. I understand you and your team are in La Guaira, which is one of the hardest-hit areas.

What is it like there and what's your focus? Is this still search-and-rescue or more recovery at this point?

Daniel Gajewski:

So we're still in the search-and-rescue phase. We do not determine whether or not we go into the recovery phase. That's going to be the local government.

So currently we have many recon teams out in the area. We're looking for survivors all the time, both day and night. We work 24-hour shifts. We're always out there looking, and when we identify where survivors are located, we stay there and then we start working that pile until they come out.

At this point, currently, USA-01 has removed five live victims. We are not stopping there. So currently we have four rescue teams out identifying and triaging different buildings in the area that have collapsed that have potentially viable victims.

Amna Nawaz:

And I know yours isn't the only team on the ground from outside doing this kind of work. How many strong are you and where else are you seeing the other teams coming in from?

Daniel Gajewski:

Teams are coming from all over the world. I believe we have over 27 countries that are represented in this response and over 53 international teams.

So you head out into some of these affected areas and you see teams from all over helping out and trying to provide their service, their level of expertise to the local governments and the local first responders.

Amna Nawaz:

You mentioned some of the folks you have been able to save. And we have seen these incredible moments of rescues, people being pulled from the rubble even days after the earthquakes. Does any one particular moment like that stand out to you?

Daniel Gajewski:

It does.

I have been on this team since 2011, and this is what we do. And, for me, and in my position as a task force leader, I kind of sit in the background, but seeing the mother and child being pulled out on our first day here was -- is extremely emotional, not only for the guys and girls that are there doing it, but for everybody back here.

Amna Nawaz:

You mentioned the many years you have been doing this. I'm assuming you have been parts of similar missions before. I'm actually personally thinking back to the scale of the disaster after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, which I was on the ground covering, and what that took.

Can you compare what you're seeing now in terms of the scale of the destruction and the devastation to past missions? I mean, how bad is it?

Daniel Gajewski:

It's -- yes, it's pretty bad.

I mean, we just -- the most recent mission I can compare this to would be Turkey. We arrived in country there and then got boots on the ground, and it was just total devastation. And it's very similar here. I think Turkey was a little bit larger scale, but still very similar.

Here, we have a lot of buildings that have collapsed, a lot of the multistory buildings that have pancake collapsed, but we have large void spaces. With large void spaces comes a lot of opportunity for rescues, which is very similar to Turkey.

Amna Nawaz:

Can I just put to you some of the frustration we have heard from folks on the ground now who are obviously -- devastating, having lost everything?

But there are folks saying heavy machinery in particular is needed in some areas. Just take a listen to -- one man told us about what they haven't seen in their area days after the earthquake.

Alexander Delgado, Volunteer (through translator):

We are waiting for the state's heavy machinery. And we haven't actually seen it here at Los Cocos Beach. We haven't seen the heavy machinery, the machines that can lift tons and move the slabs as easily as a feather. We're waiting for that as soon as possible, because every minute counts for those people who are down under the rubble waiting to be freed from it.

Amna Nawaz:

So, Chief, for people who haven't yet seen those resources, what's your message to them? Is there enough or is it coming?

Daniel Gajewski:

That's always what -- in any large disaster, that's always one of the big needs. We're not surprised by what we're seeing.

So, case in point, when we see these heavy pieces of concrete and things that generally we wish we could move with heavy machinery, we know that, OK, if we don't have it, we're going to have to go through it. And we're well versed in that.

We have all the correct tools that we need to do it, and we can do it fast and effectively. And that's what makes our team so special.

Amna Nawaz:

We have seen a lot of estimates too that the numbers we're seeing in terms of official death count could rise significantly. Based on what you have seen, do you agree we could see that?

Daniel Gajewski:

Based on what we have seen, yes, I believe that's a possibility.

Amna Nawaz:

That is Battalion Chief Daniel Gajewski joining us tonight from La Guaira, Venezuela.

Chief Gajewski, thank you so much for your time.

Daniel Gajewski:

Absolutely. Thank you.