GRAHAM Payne, founder of the West Devon-based rescue group RAPID UK, returned home this week from earthquake-torn Pakistan after one of the charity?s most successful operations. The RAPID team saved the lives of seven people in the week following the earthquake. Graham, who arrived back in the UK on Sunday morning, said: ?I think this was our most successful mission ever ? not many teams have managed to get that many people out.? Graham, 61, said the rescue teams knew from the outset the quake was a very large one. ?I think the first call I had was about 6.45am on Saturday, and our team landed in Islamabad about 22 hours later, which was certainly some quick moving. ?It was brilliant to get there so quickly and it?s the speed of getting out there so quickly that meant we were able to save so many,? he said. In daytime temperatures of up to 40c and enduring dangerous conditions, thick with dust, the RAPID team worked virtually around the clock in their efforts to locate and rescue trapped survivors. ?You might get a couple of hours rest, but if you get a positive sound, you just have to keep going,? said Graham. ?To get two women out took us 16 hours.? Graham said the building in which the RAPID team was working had contained around 100 people when the earthquake hit. ?It was very difficult because the building went down floor by floor and also twisted as it fell, so it was a problem identifying what floor was what. ?From the information we had we more or less knew where the people were, but it was getting under the building and through to these floors which was the problem.? Graham estimated around 70 people lost their lives in the building. He said reaction to RAPID teams in Pakistan was ?amazing?. ?People just could not do enough for us ? at one point there was this rumour that RAPID UK needed Lucozade ? everybody was getting money together to get us Lucozade, it was incredible. We were really chuffed, people were falling over backwards to help us ? the only thing they couldn?t get hold of was my pipe tobacco!? The RAPID team worked closely with the Pakistani army during the rescue operation. Graham said: ?I think they were a bit apprehensive at first when we first turned up, but after a while when they realised we knew what we were doing, they couldn?t do enough to help. ?It was amazing ? one day when I left the site, I was about a quarter of a mile away and we had asked for silence, and even that far away, you could have heard a pin drop.? Graham has high hopes that a Pakistani branch of RAPID will be set up, enabling an even quicker response should disaster strike again. ?We?ve been in negotiations and talking about this for about two years now, but while we were out there I was approached by the army, the fire service and the police about setting up rescue teams in Pakistan.? Graham said the group left around £30,000 worth of rescue equipment behind in Pakistan. RAPID is now approaching its tenth anniversary ? and Graham said the organisation has achieved incredible success. RAPID now has about 32 operational members from all walks of life, ranging from builders and electricians to ambulance personnel and even an oyster fisherman. The charity has no sponsorship and relies entirely on fundraising.
