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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Dr. Marc Siegel

Aired July 28, 2002 - 11:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: But problems could still develop. Dr. Marc Siegel joins us now from Detroit to talk about possible long-term complications for the miners. Dr. Siegel, thanks for being with us today.

DR. MARC SIEGEL, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: Thank you, Renay.

SAN MIGUEL: I know that you -- you know, I hate to get you to try to make a diagnosis here based on just video that you may have seen over the last few hours here, but, you know, they are said to be in remarkable condition. Judging from what you've seen so far, how do they look to you?

SIEGEL: They look like they're in excellent condition, and I definitely ascribe that to the fact that they were very smartly hugging each other and staying very close to each other and exchanging warmth. It was a key factor. Plus the rescue operations getting hot air down there very quickly also helped a lot.

SAN MIGUEL: So if you are in charge now of the examination once they came out of the mine, what would you do here?

SIEGEL: Well, first of all, I would give them intravenous to make sure that I replaced their fluids. And if they're still cold, it's a good idea to put warming blankets on them and even heat the intravenous solution that they're getting. Also they should get oxygen, because we don't know for sure what they might have been breathing down there.

SAN MIGUEL: I was just going to ask you about that, the idea that there was some talk that these miners could have suffered from the bends, the gases that accumulate in the joints, that kind of thing, whether or not there was any methane down there at all. Is it just something as simple as a blood test to determine that?

SIEGEL: Absolutely. We can check their blood gasses and their blood oxygen to see if they have carbon monoxide. So far it doesn't look like they are suffering from that, or the effects of pressure. It doesn't look like they're going through pressure changes, but it's a good idea to give them oxygen nevertheless.

SAN MIGUEL: The physiological stress they must have been under must have been tremendous, and you mentioned the idea of trying to keep warm because of the hypothermia when you're waist deep in water. But what about the psychological stresses that are involved? It's been said that there is no darkness like that that you find in the mine, the idea of whether or not you don't know whether you're not going to make it alive out there or not. Tell me a little bit about the psychological portion.

SIEGEL: It's enormous, and there may even be an effect of that in the weeks to come as they realize what they've been through. But one thing is for sure: The buddying up and the friendship and the caring these men have showed for each other is as much the reason that they survived as the fact that they preserved heat.

SAN MIGUEL: And the fact that they are being rewarded with even more care and affection now that they've made it out alive. Dr. Marc Siegel, joining us from Detroit, thank you so much for your time this morning.

SIEGEL: Thank you, Renay.

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