Have you been following the amazing story of the 33 trapped Chilean miners? Buried half a mile below ground since their San Jose mine collapsed on August 5th, a clearer picture is emerging as to how the miners faced their ordeal in the first 17 days before contact was established this past week. The 33 men have been surviving on small amounts of canned food, and were organized enough to have attempted one escape, a bid that failed because the proper safety equipment wasn’t available.
This story is beyond fascinating, on so many levels. What’s interesting to me is how the miners have maintained the discipline and order of their normal work group. One of the first miners to communicate with the surface was Luis Urzua, a shift boss that the Wall Street Journal cited as the group’s apparent leader. A Chilean psychiatrist, Rose Marie Fritsch, commented that the miners showed “the capacity to organize themselves, to conserve certain structures and stand tall – it’s evident that they didn’t lose their organization or their survival system.” Mining Minister Laurence Golborne spoke with Mr. Urzua by phone, and added: “hearing them so animated reflects that they have great strength, and a very well-structured system of organization.”
This is a real-life test of something that I wonder about all the time – what would happen to the well- defined chain of command if a group of people were suddenly faced with a survival situation? Would reporting lines be maintained? Would the boss still be the boss? In this case, the miners are still in their element – so perhaps the shift boss still has the most knowledge and experience, and that makes maintaining the leadership role easier… I guess we’ll find out as more details emerge. Still, it’s moving to read about the level of teamwork, camaraderie, and positive attitude that these men are displaying – most of us can only wonder what we’d do in this type of terrifying scenario.
The latest news on the rescue effort is that the miners might be freed by October, not late December, as was originally communicated. Let’s hope that everything goes according to plan, and that these brave men are extracted from their unwanted home as soon as possible. If all goes well, the books and movies will soon follow – and there’s no doubt in my mind that leadership, courage and teamwork will be the real stars of this drama.
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