Training for disasters, fundraising rows across the Pacific and charity sailing races: life in the city that gives back

I spent last Saturday lying under a desk covered in blood. Fake blood, I hasten to add, and I had chosen to be there. I was playing a 'victim' in the citywide Neighbourhood Earthquake Response Team (NERT) drill, when members of NERT join with the San Francisco Fire Department to put their disaster-response skills to the test. I am currently in the midst of NERT training, a six-week course run by the Fire Department that teaches how to prepare for an earthquake, disaster medicine, how to recognise if damage to a building is Light, Moderate or Heavy, how to find, triage and move victims, and generally be ready to cope in the event of the Big One. San Francisco's last major earthquake was the 6.9 Loma Prieta quake of October 17th, 1989, which killed 63 people and caused huge amounts of damage, especially in the Marina where fires raged for hours and the houses built on the reclaimed mud of the Bay collapsed from three storeys to one. People have been talking about the next major quake for a long time - 25 years ago, a US Geological Survey said there was a 67% chance of one occurring in the next 30 years - and although no one can predict exactly when it will come, it seemed sensible to be prepared. And the skills learnt will be valuable in any disaster situation - I never want to have to put them into practice, but it's good to know I could if I had to.

Me with my very enthusiastic make-up girl. I did take a picture

of me on site being a victim, but I looked so terrifyingly as if I were dead,

that for the sake of my parents, I'm not posting it anywhere!

NERT members tuck into a hearty lunch on a break from triaging 'victims'

The best barbecue ever: in the back of an old firetruck

The NERT course is devoted to teaching how 'to do the most good for the most people'. For example, when triaging patients, it's not about doing CPR and spending minutes trying to revive someone, but about finding and classifying as many people as possible. It's hard, when one's instinct is telling you to keep trying to save someone or when other victims are pleading for you not to leave them, but NERT members should only spend 30 seconds at the very most with each victim. Spending too long on one person could mean others die who could have been saved if an airway had been opened or tourniquet applied in time. Much of the material is common sense, such as keeping away from hazardous materials or checking for large cracks before entering a building, but having it explained in a methodical and practical fashion means we are less likely to rush in where angels fear to tread. If the worst happens, NERT members would don their green high-vis vests and helmets and collaborate in the rescue effort alongside the professional emergency services, always remembering the mantra that prevents them becoming a further burden: 'NERTs don't get hurt'!

The Marina Middle School, disaster site for the day

The discomfort I experienced on the cold floor of a Marina Middle School classroom was as nothing compared with the discomfort that four courageous girls will experience for the next six months when they row from San Francisco to Australia. The Coxless Crew, Laura Penpaul, Emma Mitchell, Natalia Cohen and Isabel Burnham, left at 1am on Monday morning, April 20th, to row to Cairns in Australia via Hawaii and Samoa. Two will row at a time in two-hour shifts, with the others doing maintenance, eating or sleeping in one of the tiny cabins. Doris, the 27ft-long, 7ft-wide Kevlar boat that will shelter and succour the crew on their six-month voyage, has been built by Rossiter Rowing Boats, a Dorset-based company founded in 1938. She has been meticulously designed and loaded with every conceivable tool and ration pack, and is painted pink in honour of the charities the girls are supporting. Breast Cancer Care and Walking with the Wounded have been chosen for the work they do to help women who have faced extreme adversity. The crew hopes to inspire others to face the challenges that life poses, their 'own Pacific ocean'. However, I can't help feeling that few challenges are as great as the idea of pulling slender blades amidst 20ft-high waves for months on end!

 

Emma Mitchell contemplates the last-minute packing of Doris

The noble vessel that will bear these four brave souls across the vast Pacific

The girls' courage is not in question. Here's to Australia!

The journey numbers are staggering: approximately 8,446 miles in three legs, 3,028 to Hawaii, 2,608 to Samoa and 2,810 to Cairns. It will take 155 days of rowing, depending on the weather and other vicissitudes, at the end of which three world records should hopefully have been broken: first all-female crew to row the Pacific Ocean, first team of four to row the Pacific and fastest crossing. It's a tall order, but the Coxless Crew has the support of Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Sir Steve Redgrave, Dee Caffari MBE and Kylie Minogue, to name but a few, so with spirits such as those behind them, there is ample inspiration for each pull of the oars. The names of supporters, patrons, ambassadors and all those who have given to the cause, are emblazoned across the cabin walls, a constant reminder of why they are rowing and who they are rowing for. Supporters can 'buy a mile', and new donors will have their names added in Hawaii and Samoa. The four girls didn't know each other before being selected for this challenge, but their training, both physical and mental, has been exhaustive, and watching the four of them give a talk at the Presidio Yacht Club, feeding off each other's strengths and cheering each other with banter, I have no doubt that they can survive and succeed. This row will test their strength, stamina and sanity, but it will be worth it. 

Doris and her crew at Presidio Yacht Club on Sunday afternoon

before their departure in the darkness before the dawn

Thanks to Nancy Bockelman for the photo

Strength in the face of adversity is not in short supply in San Francisco. I encountered the Coxless Crew through Jennifer Hinkel, vice-commodore of the Presidio Yacht Club and founder of Resilience Racing. Jennifer survived Hodgkin's Lymphoma in her late teens and found a solace in sailing that came from the synergy of wind, water and wave, the physical challenge and the camaraderie of swooping across the water with a crew of friends. I know exactly what she means, as I have the same feeling about riding. There's a similarity between the sailing and equestrian worlds that comes from the willingness to embrace the elements, to share the thrill of crossing water or land, the determination to hang on for grim death in the face of wind and rain - and to decamp to a bar for a stiff drink and a 'merry yarn from a laughing fellow rover'. Jennifer found that sailing offered her a sense of calm and of being at one with Nature at a time when she felt that the world was no longer a safe place, and she now wants to share that feeling with other cancer survivors through the sport. Racing 'squeezes out any sense of fear or anxiety, and I feel strong and at peace,' she writes. 'This experience, more than anything else, has aided in the recovery of my mental and emotional health after cancer'. Resilience Racing is the first competitive sailing programme for cancer survivors, and the team will compete in September and October aboard Mistress II, a Farallone Clipper currently being restored in Sausalito. Ten places are available, although if fundraising goals are exceeded, a second boat will be considered. 

Jennifer Hinkel speaks at the launch of Resilience Racing

Charity galas, fundraising events and non-profit organisations abound in San Francisco, a cheering offset to the piles of gold in Silicon Valley. The hundreds of NERT volunteers, the people who contribute to adventures such as the Coxless Crew and Resilience Racing, not to mention all those I have encountered through FOGG (Friends of Golden Gate), Grace Cathedral, the Presidio Stewards who spend weekends weeding in national parks and more, are only a fraction of the army of philanthropic souls in this city. The friendship and support I have met with on a personal level are echoed on a citywide scale, and I am glad to contribute, even if that means spending Saturdays smeared in fake blood on a cold classroom floor.