Oklahoma City bombing

===Rescue efforts===
[[File:Oklahomacitybombing-DF-ST-96-00588.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Several Air Force members and firefighters are clearing debris from the damaged building. Several yellow buckets are visible, which are being used to hold the debris. The destruction of the bombing is visible behind the rescuers.|U.S. Air Force personnel and firefighters removing rubble in the rescue attempt]]
At 9:03&nbsp;a.m., the first of over 1,800 [[911 (emergency telephone number)|911]] calls related to the bombing were received by [[Emergency Medical Services Authority]] (EMSA).<ref name="DPost">{{cite news|last=Eddy |first=Mark |title=April&nbsp;19, 1995 |work=[[The Denver Post]] |url=http://extras.denverpost.com/bomb/his22.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928173328/http://extras.denverpost.com/bomb/his22.htm |archive-date=September 28, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> By that time, EMSA ambulances, police, and firefighters had heard the blast and were already headed to the scene.<ref name="TM">{{cite web|title=The Oklahoma City Bombing: Immediate Response Authority and Other Military Assistance to Civil Authority (MACA) |work=The Army Lawyer |date=July 1997 |last=Winthrop |first=Jim |url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=189854 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927182023/https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=189854 |archive-date=September 27, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Nearby civilians, who had also witnessed or heard the blast, arrived to assist the victims and emergency workers.<ref name="Terrorism Info" /> Within 23 minutes of the bombing, the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) was set up, consisting of representatives from the state departments of public safety, human services, military, health, and education. Assisting the SEOC were agencies including the [[National Weather Service (United States)|National Weather Service]], the [[United States Air Force|Air Force]], the [[Civil Air Patrol]], and the [[American Red Cross]].<ref name="USDJ2">{{cite web|title=Responding to Terrorism Victims: Oklahoma City and Beyond: Chapter II: The Immediate Crisis Response|work=[[U.S. Department of Justice]]|url=http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/infores/respterrorism/chap2.html|date=October 2000|access-date=March 24, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425120535/http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/infores/respterrorism/chap2.html|archive-date=April 25, 2009}}</ref> Immediate assistance also came from 465&nbsp;members of the [[Oklahoma National Guard]], who arrived within the hour to provide security, and from members of the Department of Civil Emergency Management.<ref name="TM"/> [[Terrance Yeakey]] and Jim Ramsey, from the Oklahoma City Police Department, were among the first officers to arrive at the site.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/3ebc3988a035d212f7aa9ed481da2c4d|title=Reluctant Hero of the Oklahoma City Bombing Commits Suicide|website=AP NEWS|access-date=March 18, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Ap|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/11/us/a-policeman-who-rescued-4-in-bombing-kills-himself.html|title=A Policeman Who Rescued 4 in Bombing Kills Himself|date=May 11, 1996|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=March 18, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/careers/chi-0504180178apr18-story.html|title=Jim Ramsey: Tragedy haunts the heroes - Chicago Tribune|website=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=November 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107102531/https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/careers/chi-0504180178apr18-story.html|access-date=March 18, 2020|archive-date=November 7, 2018}}</ref>

The EMS command post was set up almost immediately following the attack and oversaw triage, treatment, transportation, and decontamination. A simple plan/objective was established: treatment and transportation of the injured was to be done as quickly as possible, supplies and personnel to handle a large number of patients was needed immediately, the dead needed to be moved to a temporary morgue until they could be transferred to the coroner's office, and measures for a long-term medical operation needed to be established.<ref name="Davis 1995 98–107">{{cite journal|last=Davis|first=G|title=Victims by the Hundreds: EMS Response and Command|journal=Fire Engineering|year=1995|volume=148|issue=10|pages=98–107|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9511202906|access-date=November 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510130659/http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=120&sid=addefe36-e54d-4fd6-b9b5-8e7d53deac96%40sessionmgr110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=9511202906|archive-date=May 10, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The triage center was set up near the Murrah Building and all the wounded were directed there. Two hundred and ten patients were transported from the primary triage center to nearby hospitals within the first couple of hours following the bombing.<ref name="Davis 1995 98–107"/>

Within the first hour, 50&nbsp;people were rescued from the Murrah Federal Building.<ref name="Giordano36">{{cite book|last=Giordano|first=Geraldine|title=The Oklahoma City Bombing|page=[https://archive.org/details/oklahomacitybomb00gior/page/36 36]|isbn=978-0-8239-3655-7|date=December 15, 2002|url=https://archive.org/details/oklahomacitybomb00gior/page/36|publisher=New York : Rosen}}</ref> Victims were sent to every hospital in the area. The day of the bombing, 153 people were treated at St. Anthony Hospital, eight blocks from the blast, over 70 people were treated at Presbyterian Hospital, 41 people were treated at University Hospital, and 18 people were treated at Children's Hospital.<ref name="ITN68">{{cite book|last=Irving|first=Clive|title=In Their Name|page=[https://archive.org/details/intheirnamededic00irvi/page/68 68]|isbn=978-0-679-44825-9|year=1995|url=https://archive.org/details/intheirnamededic00irvi/page/68|publisher=New York : Random House}}</ref> Temporary silences were observed at the blast site so that sensitive listening devices capable of detecting human heartbeats could be used to locate survivors. In some cases, limbs had to be amputated without anesthetics (avoided because of the potential to induce shock) in order to free those trapped under rubble.<ref name="OttleyBadDay">{{cite news|last=Ottley |first=Ted |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime//serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/dawning_1.html |title=The Oklahoma City Bombing: Bad Day Dawning |publisher=truTV |date=April 14, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427025830/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/dawning_1.html |archive-date=April 27, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The scene had to be periodically evacuated as the police received tips claiming that other bombs had been planted in the building.<ref name="OttleyInnocence"/>

At 10:28&nbsp;a.m., rescuers found what they believed to be a second bomb. Some rescue workers refused to leave until police ordered the mandatory evacuation of a four-block area around the site.<ref name="DPost"/><ref name="ITN78">{{cite book|last=Irving|first=Clive|title=In Their Name|page=[https://archive.org/details/intheirnamededic00irvi/page/78 78]|isbn=978-0-679-44825-9|year=1995|url=https://archive.org/details/intheirnamededic00irvi/page/78|publisher=New York : Random House}}</ref> The device was determined to be a three-foot (.9-m) long [[BGM-71 TOW|TOW missile]] used in the training of federal agents and bomb-sniffing dogs;<ref name="TI3"/><ref name="TOWMissile">{{cite news|last=Solomon|first=John|title=Gov't had missile in Murrah Building|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-67753739.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104000502/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-67753739.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 4, 2012|url-access=registration |date=September 26, 2002|agency=Associated Press|access-date=June 5, 2009}}</ref> although actually inert, it had been marked "live" in order to mislead arms traffickers in a planned law enforcement sting.<ref name="TOWMissile"/> On examination the missile was determined to be inert, and relief efforts resumed 45&nbsp;minutes later.<ref name="TOWMissile"/><ref name="TOWBoom">{{cite news|last=Talley |first=Tim |title=Nichols Jury Hears Recording of Bombing |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-93750984.html  |date=April 23, 2004 |via=[[HighBeam Research]] |agency=Associated Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105164059/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-93750984.html |archive-date=November 5, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The last survivor, a 15-year-old girl found under the base of the collapsed building, was rescued at around 7&nbsp;p.m.<ref name="ChillMiracle">{{cite news|last=Driver|first=Don|author2=Marty Sabota|title=Rescuers search through chill for a miracle|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SAEC&p_theme=saec&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAFE756F74387D9&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|url-access=registration |date=April 23, 1995|work=[[San Antonio Express-News]]|access-date=April 7, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609012514/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SAEC&p_theme=saec&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAFE756F74387D9&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|archive-date=June 9, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the days following the blast, over 12,000&nbsp;people participated in relief and rescue operations. The [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] (FEMA) activated 11 of its [[FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force|Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces]], bringing in 665&nbsp;rescue workers.<ref name="USDJ2"/><ref name="FEMAUSAR"/> One nurse was killed in the rescue attempt after she was hit on the head by debris, and 26&nbsp;other rescuers were hospitalized because of various injuries.<ref name="TreatingComp62">{{cite book|last=Figley|first=Charles R|title=Treating Compassion Fatigue|page=62|isbn=978-1-58391-053-5|year=2002|publisher=Brunner-Routledge }}</ref> Twenty-four [[Police dog|K-9]] units and out-of-state dogs were brought in to search for survivors and bodies in the building debris.<ref name="TI3"/><ref name="ITN103">{{cite book|last=Irving|first=Clive|title=In Their Name|page=[https://archive.org/details/intheirnamededic00irvi/page/103 103]|isbn=978-0-679-44825-9|year=1995|url=https://archive.org/details/intheirnamededic00irvi/page/103|publisher=New York : Random House}}</ref><ref name="Giordano34">{{cite book|last=Giordano|first=Geraldine|title=The Oklahoma City Bombing|page=[https://archive.org/details/oklahomacitybomb00gior/page/34 34]|isbn=978-0-8239-3655-7|date=December 15, 2002|url=https://archive.org/details/oklahomacitybomb00gior/page/34|publisher=New York : Rosen}}</ref> In an effort to recover additional bodies, {{convert|100|to|350|ST|MT|abbr=on}} of rubble were removed from the site each day from April 24 to 29.<ref name="ITN86">{{cite book|last=Irving|first=Clive|title=In Their Name|page=[https://archive.org/details/intheirnamededic00irvi/page/86 86]|isbn=978-0-679-44825-9|year=1995 |url=https://archive.org/details/intheirnamededic00irvi/page/86|publisher=New York : Random House}}</ref>

[[File:MurrahBuildingDemolitionMay1995.jpg|thumb|right|alt=The Alfred P. Murrah building is being demolished, and the image shows the building in mid-collapse. A Ryder truck is visible at the bottom left, and the Regency Towers building can be seen in the background at the far right. The demolition has created large clouds of dust that take up a portion of the image.|The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building being demolished on May 23, 1995, over a month after the incident. The bomb used in the attack was housed in a Ryder truck similar to the one visible in the lower left of the photograph.]]
Rescue and recovery efforts were concluded at 12:05&nbsp;a.m. on May 5, by which time the bodies of all but three of the victims had been recovered.<ref name="Terrorism Info"/> For safety reasons, the building was initially slated to be demolished shortly afterward. McVeigh's attorney, [[Stephen Jones (attorney)|Stephen Jones]], filed a motion to delay the demolition until the defense team could examine the site in preparation for the trial.<ref name="Unfinished140">{{cite book|last=Linenthal|first=Edward|title=The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory|page=140|isbn=978-0-19-516107-6|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref> At 7:02&nbsp;a.m. on May 23, more than a month after the bombing, the Murrah Federal building was demolished.<ref name="Terrorism Info"/><ref name="AmericanMonst234">{{cite book|last=Stickney|first=Brandom M|title=All-American Monster|page=[https://archive.org/details/allamericanmonst00stic/page/234 234]|isbn=978-1-57392-088-9|year=1996|url=https://archive.org/details/allamericanmonst00stic/page/234|publisher=Prometheus Books}}</ref> The EMS Command Center remained active and was staffed 24 hours a day until the demolition.<ref name="Davis 1995 98–107"/> The final three bodies to be recovered were those of two credit union employees and a customer.<ref name="CNNI">{{cite news|last=Candiotti|first=Susan|title=Federal Building Demolition|publisher=[[CNN]]|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/OKC/facts/Cleanup/Implosion5-23/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308170052/http://www.cnn.com/US/OKC/facts/Cleanup/Implosion5-23/index.html|archive-date=March 8, 2008|date=May 23, 1995}}</ref> For several days after the building's demolition, trucks hauled away {{convert|800|ST|MT|abbr=on}} of debris a day from the site. Some of the debris was used as evidence in the conspirators' trials, incorporated into memorials, donated to local schools, or sold to raise funds for relief efforts.<ref name="Unfinished14244">{{cite book|last=Linenthal|first=Edward|title=The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory|pages=142–144|isbn=978-0-19-516107-6|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref>