"White Helmets" Help Victims of Syria Conflict.
COSTELLO: Nearly five years of civil war has made Syria one of the most dangerous places to live. But amid the tragedy, there is heroism -- the white helmets who serve as first responders. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has this exclusive.</s>DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You're watching extraordinary rescue in Aleppo, Syria. For 12 hours these men had been digging and drilling. And they're about to save the life of a two-week-old baby. The baby saviors known only by the iconic protective gear they wear on their heads. In an area of the world bursting with two many men in black hats, they are the cavalry -- the white helmets.</s>JAMES LE MESURIER, MAYDAY RESCUE: They have all chosen -- they have all chosen to risk their lives to save others and that makes every single one of them a hero.</s>GUPTA: James Le Mesurier is the architect of the organization.</s>LE MESURIER: In Syria there is no 911 system. There is nobody that you can call. You can't pick up a phone and call a fire service. You can't call a local police department. They don't exist.</s>GUPTA: So this group of ordinary Syrian men and a few women have organized themselves to fill that void. Zuhair Amanzi (ph) was once a blacksmith. Ibrahim Azulki (ph) a barber. Ahmad Rahal (ph), a detective. He was supposed to get married next week. But for the time being they have left their previous jobs, their previous lives and now volunteer to run toward when everyone else is running from. We're traveling along the border between Turkey and Syria. We're with the White Helmets. They've just gotten a call. We wanted to see exactly what they do. This is all part of an intense training to become even better, even faster. All of a sudden this area filled with smoke. There's concern that there may be another bomber, another attack coming. So they've asked for all the lights to be turned off. They don't want to be a target themselves. But you can see just challenging that makes their job. The concern is that. The White Helmets tell us this video is of a barrel bomb being hurtled from a chopper by the Syrian government. As you see, they can be wildly inaccurate. As you hear they are incredibly vicious.</s>LE MESURIER: A barrel bomb dropping on your house is like a 7.6 order of magnitude earthquake 50 times a day.</s>GUPTA: These bombs are so malignant, full of explosives, rebar, wire, nails, anything else that can brutally maim and kill. Now the White Helmets are concerned about a newer enemy -- chlorine gas. They were able to save these children but believe chlorine gas led to the death of a family of six. And it gets even worse.</s>LE MESURIER: Helicopters normally carry two barrel bombs and they drop the first barrel bomb which then explodes. And the pilot then remains in the sky circling where the explosion took place, waiting for a crowd to gather and waiting for rescuers to come to the scene. When a crowd gathers, they release the second bomb and that is a double tap (ph).</s>GUPOTA: 84 White Helmets have now been killed, mostly by double taps. It is why Syria is one of the most dangerous places in the world and why being a White Helmet might be the most dangerous job in the world.</s>COSTELLO: Sanjay Gupta reporting. Thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. "AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.