Writers Tricks of the Trade ISSUE 3, VOLUME 7 | Page 14

T RAGEDY IN L AS V EGAS (C ONT ’ D ) GOOD BOOKS FOR AUTHORS F ALL 2017 Part of the afternoon was spent helping the first responders do their overwhelming jobs. Our members went shopping on short notice and arrived back at our trailer with hamburgers, apples, tangerines, bananas, snack packs, beverages, and energy drinks. We fed between 140 and 200 specialists who were then responsible to reenter and investigate this overwhelming crime scene. You have never met so many people who were thankful for a simple hamburger, some fresh fruit and above all else, energy drinks. All they asked was would we promise to be back on site the following day. How could we say no to such a thankful group of people? The people who are with the FBI are measuring as well as posting on maps where each piece of evidence from Sunday night is located. The agents of the Nevada State Attorney General’s office must reenter the killing zone and recover all the personal effects left behind. While there, they will tag, document, identify, and attempt to contact either the owner whose property they now posses, or make a notification to the next of kin that the loved one’s property has been found and available to be claimed. Time is winding down like it does with any crisis in life. Tomorrow we will arrive a little later in the day and once again provide sustenance to the evidence gatherers as well as any first responder, but with shortened hours on site. The people, who attended the concert and escaped to safety, are returning home. We will stay on site but not as long as we did when we first responded. For those that lost loved ones, many of the casino/hotels are offering free rooms. Some of the airlines, are offering to fly the human remains home for free. I have been wiping tears and sometimes struggling to finish sentences without crying in front of someone. A simple thank you from a first responder can bring tears to your eyes as he or she takes a couple bottles of water or energy drinks back out on the road to continue their twelve hour assignments. This can reduce you to tears. They have done so much and we have done so little, trying to make their day just a little easier, a little better and maybe a little more hopeful. Tomorrow I will return with my friends, maybe our stay will be shorter, maybe it will be longer. We serve our first responders and their needs. They make the hours worthwhile because they never leave us without saying thank you. Thursday was another day helping take care of the first responders. The evidence technicians continue their tiring task of gathering evidence and retrieving victims’ lost property. It seems every day the authorities give back to the residents some of the roped off areas and open up some of the streets that have been closed. P AGE 6 W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE TRADE