Wagga paramedic returns from Japan's disaster zone

WAGGA paramedic Eamonn Purcell returns home today from earthquake and tsunami-devastated Japan, where he saw sights many others only experience in nightmares or watching disaster movies.Inspector Purcell led a medical task force that spent five days in the Japanese port town of Minamisanriku, in the Miyagi prefecture.About 10,000 people out of a population of 17,000 are missing, believed to have died when the tsunami following the March 12 earthquake swept over the east coast town."We could not find one of them alive, it was an eerie feeling," Inspector Purcell said after landing in Sydney and undergoing a debriefing."We found bodies, children's toys, bassinets, toilets, but no one alive."Inspector Purcell said he had no words to adequately describe the scenes of utter devastation his team saw."It was like standing in the middle of the Gregadoo tip and imagining it was the main street of Wagga," he said."Everything was just matchwood."There were fishing nets wrapped around buildings and trapping debris four storeys high."We were happy to be there, it was something we wanted to do, but some of the stuff we saw will stay with us the rest of our lives."Inspector Purcell revealed he was on the helicopter that was forced to land at Fukushima airport, near where radiation was escaping from a crippled nuclear power station.However, he stayed on the helicopter and was not exposed to dangerous radiation."The outside of the helicopter had higher radiation levels, not dangerous levels, and we had just above-normal levels," Inspector Purcell said.His team had to travel about 40 minutes each way to the disaster area every day because of fears another tsunami might strike."There was a fair bit of earthquake activity going on, ranging in magnitude from 4.5 to 6.5," Inspector Purcell said."They were just going on all the time and you got used to it."Weather conditions were terrible, with temperatures plummeting to as low as minus 17 degrees.One scene the 16-year paramedic veteran won't forget is entering a wedding reception area on the third floor of a building, where it appeared a celebration had been in progress when the tsunami struck.Tables were set and there were other signs of a wedding, but there were no people to be found.In another house, the team recovered ceremonial kimonos and returned them to grieving relatives.As they left Japan, Inspector Purcell's team gave their medical supplies to a hospital.