'Maximum load' has new meaning

We've seen the signs hundreds of times and walked past them without so much as a thought.

But you can bet at least 100 people won't look at a "maximum load capacity" sign in a public building without giving it some serious contemplation.

Last Friday night's collapse of the outside deck at the Diamond Horseshoe Lounge and Grill was the kind of freakish calamity that almost all of us can relate to. We've all probably wondered at some time or another whether a structure was strong enough to hold the weight it held. But, more often than not, we've let the twinge of concern be washed away by the soothing effect of blind faith - surely the odds are in our favor, we tell ourselves.

Unfortunately for 80 or so people, those odds ran out on Friday night. They suddenly found themselves at the bottom of an eight-foot fall, suffering from broken ankles and legs and hips, wondering just what the heck happened. Then one fellow reportedly said what others may have briefly wondered before they stepped on the deck - "Dude, I told you that was going to happen."

Despite the large amount of injuries, including some that were very serious, there were some amazing outcomes from the event.

First and foremost, there were no fatal injuries. Standing at the base of the deck and looking up to where it once hung from the back of the lounge, it's easy to imagine the throng of people drawn to the cool night air.

What's difficult to understand is how so many people could fall those eight feet or so without someone suffering mortal injury. It's truly amazing and perhaps the most common remark expressed by emergency response personnel.

At the very least, our community can be grateful that this incident didn't have more serious consequences than it did.

The mass of humanity was piled upon the fallen deck like pick-up sticks. Every movement must have accentuated the pain and suffering of those entangled in the pile, yet emergency personnel noted selfless acts by those injured, offering to wait for medical attention in order for those more seriously injured to be treated first.

And while law enforcement personnel had to deal with typical Friday night shenanigans by a few intoxicated patrons in the parking lot, the scene below the deck was evolved into an orderly triage evolution. This was a real-world test of the local Incident Command response that area emergency personnel continue to train for, and in large part it went off extremely well.

Polson Fire Chief Tom Maloney, as Incident Commander on the scene, deserves a tremendous amount of credit for being the calm "eye of the storm" that directed the emergency response. But, he's quick to redirect attention to the professional conduct of all the emergency personnel who responded from all over the valley that night.

Crews from Polson Fire Department and Polson Ambulance were the first to respond, along with city police, sheriff's deputies and tribal law enforcement. Finley Point Fire Department volunteers were also on scene quickly, while ambulances from Ronan, St. Ignatius and Bigfork rolled quickly to the scene. Life Flight and Alert helicopters also flew in to carry off seriously injured.

St. Joseph Medical Center in Polson quickly bore the brunt of the call for medical attention, calling in extra staff and dealing with the majority of the injured. St. Luke Community Hospital in Ronan also treated many of the injured. Ronan's Fire Department suited up and prepared to help Polson cover any new fire calls.

Everyone involved responded extremely well and the coordination exhibited reflected a tremendous amount of professionalism by our emergency services personnel and organizations. All that continuous training paid off, they said.

But, perhaps even more importantly, this incident allowed us to see how quickly our neighbors up and down the valley pitched in, came together and worked the problem as a team. Although there are always lessons to be learned and improvements to be made, the emergency response system did its job very well, and under more arduous workload conditions than any of the organizations had ever trained for.

There is at least one bright silver lining in this cloud. Our emergency service teams pulled together under remarkably challenging circumstances and performed extremely well.

And we can thank our lucky moon - it certainly could have been much, much worse.