You see them standing on the sidelines, sitting in the stands or walking around the stadium.

They most often are there for the same reason as anyone else — as a fan of the Union County High School Yellow Jacket football team.

But their purpose at Union County Stadium holds an important undertone and it’s one that couldn’t have been more apparent last Friday night.

When a 30-foot section of the concrete block wall between the 10- and 20-yard lines at the stadium collapsed, injuring 28 high school students, it was those silent fans ever on guard who stepped up to the plate and took control.

These are the men and women of Union County EMS as well as school, county, hospital district and city officials who not only got the situation under control after the wall came tumbling down but used their expertise and leadership to ensure everyone was taken care of and that the stadium is ready for fans again this Friday.

The scene that developed could have been much worse had it not been for these selfless Union County residents.

“This is our opportunity to say thank you to an entire group of individuals who were there and were so helpful sorting out the difficulties of the wall coming down,” said Union County School District Superintendent Dr. David Eubanks. “Everyone seemed to coordinate every move so well together. I think this proves to everyone we can come together for the common good when a situation like this presents itself.”

From the first responders on the field to the volunteer physicians taking care of the injured to the sheriff’s deputies and public safety officers coordinating traffic and school and county officials helping with crowd control, every aspect of the response following the wall’s demise went off with little discord.

Everyone involved in the aftermath knew there was a job to be done and when it came time for them to play their part they did so without asking for any recognition.

“No amount of training can prepare you for an actual emergency like this,” said director of Union County EMS Ronnie Roberson. “I am proud of my staff for their quick action and cooperation with on-site physicians in assessing and treating injuries.”

Three CHA physicians — Drs. Alisahah Cole, John Flood and Erica Savage-Jeter — make up the Union County Athletic Team Physicians.

“For every game, there is at least one of us there to cover injuries to our players as well as the visiting players, if needed,” said Dr. Erica Savage-Jeter. “It is rare to find three team doctors in attendance on any given Friday night.”

But all three of them were there last week.

“Miraculously, we were there,” Savage-Jeter said.

She said the atmosphere of the stadium changed quickly upon the wall’s collapse but she and her colleagues happened to be focused on that specific section of the cheering crowd.

“Seconds before the wall fell, the students were cheering ‘Channel 4,’ trying to get a camera shot by the news guys,” Savage-Jeter said. “As a result, our attention was on that section because of the chanting.”

All she could think as she and the other team doctors watched the horrifying events unfold was “I cannot believe this.” Dr. Alisahah Cole instantly began thinking about the safety of everyone around the wall and mobilizing emergency services.

Their response time wasn’t hindered.

“If I am not mistaken, we were standing on about the 30 (yard line) and the incident was in the section at about the 20-yard line,” Savage-Jeter said. “When the wall collapsed, there was no delay in reaching the aide of these children.”

“Only seconds,” Cole added. She was about 10-20 feet from the wall when it collapsed.

The same held true for the other EMS personnel responding to the incident and she added the group worked well together.

“The teamwork was awesome!” Savage-Jeter said. “We quickly triaged those that we felt that may have had some serious injuries and EMS mobilized them to Wallace Thomson.”

She said Dr. Flood was instrumental in making sure EMS manpower and vehicles were available and waiting to be mobilized and the team was able to keep the ER at the hospital abreast of injuries they were sending and what to expect.

“There were efforts from everyone — including police officers, coaches, athletic trainers, EMS personnel, medical professionals in the stands as well as medical professionals at Wallace Thomson Hospital — to make sure these children received the attention they needed,” Savage-Jeter said.

“Everyone worked well together.” Cole added.

Being given updates from the scene enabled the hospital ER staff to be better prepared for receiving injured patients — no matter the extent of injuries.

“Thankfully the injuries were not as severe as they could have been,” said Wallace Thomson Hospital compliance officer and risk manager Susan Foster. “Staff at the hospital were ready for anything as they received news of the accident.”

Foster added the presence of school officials who accompanied the students to the hospital helped expedite treatment of the injured and acted as great liaisons between the patients and their families and friends.

“We are very fortunate to have excellent physicians here in Union who are trained to handle any situation,” said Union Hospital District CEO Bill Leonard. “Our EMS and hospital staff are exceptionally trained to provide excellent care and teamwork. We would like to thank law enforcement and school officials for being at the hospital with the families and friends throughout the night to ensure everyone’s well being.”

“We are so fortunate to have such a skillful response team always prepared to help the citizens of Union County,” said Union Hospital District Board of Trustees member Jeff Cannon who was at the game when the wall collapsed.

And while doctors, EMS personnel and athletic trainers helped the injured on the field it was up to public safety officers and school and county officials to control the crowd, making sure anxiety levels didn’t rise to be uncontrollable. Hospital officials said traffic control was especially exceptional as attendees left the stadium.

“The coordination of Union County EMS, first responders, physicians, public safety, school officials, nurses and other medical volunteers was impressive and highly efficient,” Cannon said. “I would like to thank all of the Union Hospital District employees for their commitment and willingness to return and help with this emergency at the hospital. Thanks to everyone involved and God Bless. “

Union County Supervisor Tommy Sinclair thanked everyone involved in the response effort — including all the citizens of Union — in a letter to the editor to The Union Daily Times earlier this week.

“Please accept this letter as a letter of appreciation and commendation for the immediate and sure action in response to the event at the Union County Stadium Friday evening,” he wrote. “I had charged the hospital administration and EMS soon after taking this job with the question ‘Are we ready for another situation like we had a few years ago with the snow.’ The hospital and others answered that question as they responded to the needs of our most prized possession — our children.”

He acknowledged the fact there are challenges currently facing Union County; some have even asked him how the community can succeed but with the teamwork and effort he saw last Friday night there’s a different question he’s asking.

“I ask with help like we have how can we fail?” Sinclair wrote. “We are thankful no one was seriously hurt. We are thankful we won.”

He encourages everyone to come out for Friday night’s last home football game as the Yellow Jackets pursue a trip to the state championship and said the stadium will be ready for another win.

Eubanks echoed those sentiments.

“Everything is still on track,” the superintendent said about the efforts under way to get the wall back in shape. “Everyone has gone out of their way to make sure. So many people stepped up to the plate and exhibited leadership.”

The school district is looking forward to a great football game with Union County taking on Upstate foe Clinton and expect a tremendous crowd of fans to be in attendance.

Eubanks said precautions have been put in place so a repeat of last Friday’s incident doesn’t happen and so everyone can come out to cheer on their hometown team.

“Every precaution has been made to make sure there’s no further incidents of this nature,” he said. “We are looking forward to having a great group out there having an enjoyable evening.”

The game starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday and you can bet every one of those people who were there in last week’s time of need will again be on hand, waiting in the wings to spring to action again if the situation demands.

The other EMS personnel who responded were:

• Charlie Gill

• Ana Dye

• Sandy Sorrow

• Lee Brannon

• Mark Wade

• Lauri Vanderford

• Kevin Shea

• Wayne Paige

• Michael Thomas

• Rob Fraim

• Chris Boulware

There also were countless Union County School District, Union County and Union Public Safety officials helping during and after the incident as well as citizens. And don’t forget about the engineers and people working on the wall to make the stadium ready for this week’s playoff game against Clinton.