She had been doing this for 20 minutes and she had not made a single error. Doc Riley had moved his medical operation to the larger tent adjacent to the operations room. He had four people assisting him and he was running triage with the systematic efficiency of a man who had done exactly this in places where the resources were significantly worse and the stakes significantly higher. In 30 minutes, she would deliver her mobility assessment to Rebecca. She was going to deliver it in 22.
The three event coordinators were moving through the facility with clipboards taking inventory of every piece of emergency equipment on site. Ropes, signaling devices, emergency blankets, medical supplies, lighting, water. They were going to report back in 20 minutes. They reported back in 17. Rebecca stood at the topographic map and absorbed each piece of information as it arrived, filing it into a framework that was building in her mind with the particular speed of someone whose operational formation had trained her to construct situational pictures from incomplete data under time pressure.
It was a skill that looked from the outside like calm. From the inside, it was the opposite of calm. It was rapid, demanding, relentless processing, but it was controlled. and control was what the room needed. 2:29 in the afternoon, Derek came back through the door. She had 12 people with her, a mix of physically capable competition participants and Iron Ridge staff, ranging in age from 23 to 51.
She had assembled them in 7 minutes, briefed them in two, and returned in time to hear Rebecca's updated assessment. South staging status, Rebecca asked without looking up from the map. Clear route to the south staging point. Approximately half a mile. Terrain is wet but navigable.
Crawford's team is staged there. Nine people too with minor mobility issues. I can get supplies to them and bring them back inside 90 minutes. Rebecca looked up. 90 minutes puts you out in the field when the storm peaks.
I know. The canyon section south of the staging area is I know. Derek said I'm not going into the canyon. I'm going to the staging point, loading up people and coming back. Straight line both ways.
Rebecca looked at her for two full seconds. Take the emergency rope kit from the inventory and two radios, primary and backup. Check in with Rachel every 15 minutes. Copy, Derek. Rebecca held her gaze.
15 minutes, not 20. Not when you remember. Every 15 minutes. Got it. I went out the door again with her 12 people behind her and Rebecca watched them go with the particular quality of attention a commander gives to people moving into risk complete unblinking and then deliberately released because you cannot function if you're tracking everyone simultaneously in your emotional register.
You file them. You trust your preparation. You keep moving. 231 in the afternoon. Rachel said, "I have contact with county emergency services.
They're aware of the situation. Primary road access is compromised, but they have an alternate route assessment underway. Estimated response window is 3 to four hours. 3 to four hours. Rebecca looked at the facility population count on the board beside the map.
193 participants, 17 Iron Ridge staff, four event contractors, 214 people total on a site with compromised power, a collapsed primary access road, and a weather system that was currently at peak intensity and would remain there for another 2 to 3 hours before beginning to moderate. The math was straightforward. 3 to 4 hours until external assistance. two to three hours until conditions improved enough to make that assistance fully effective. 100% of the people on this site needed to be accounted for warm, medically stable, and able to move under their own power or with assistance before that window opened. She looked at the inventory list.
Emergency lighting adequate for the main structures. Heating two propane units in the main sufficient for the current occupancy. Water good. medical doc had what he needed for the injuries already presenting. Food not out a current priority but would become one if the timeline extended. The power situation was the variable he kept returning to.
The primary generator had failed. The backup fuel component failure that he had flagged in his audit that had been corrected before the event. She had confirmed the replacement work order was completed. She had not verified the replacement physically. She should have verified it physically.
Rachel, he said, "Yeah, the backup generator, the fuel component replacement. Do you have the contractor sign off? " Rachel reached for the event documentation folder without breaking her radio rhythm. She flipped through it with one hand, found the page. She held it up without looking away from her radio equipment. Rebecca crossed to her and read it.
The work order was dated, signed. The replacement was documented as completed, but the component part number listed on the work order was the same part number as the original incorrect component. Rebecca stared at the paper for 3 seconds. The replacement had been completed. The wrong component had been replaced with an identical wrong component.
She set the paper down. She walked to the door, opened it, looked at the rain, and said nothing for a moment. Then he closed the door, walked back to the map and began working the problem from a different angle. 2:47 in the afternoon. Doc Riley came through the door.
Mobility assessment, he said. He put a handwritten page on the table beside the map. 189 mobile under own power. 25 mobile with support. Three that need carry assist if we move.
Nobody critical yet. Anderson has a prior cardiac history and I want to watch him. Stress plus cold is not what I'd prescribe. Rebecca looked at the page, then at Doc. How's Anderson managing it?
She's stable. She's been stable for 40 minutes. She's also 64 and she's been in worse situations than this, which is helping her emotionally, and is doing absolutely nothing for her coronary arteries. Can he stay warm where he is? If we keep the propane units running and he stays off his feet, yes.