story2200.xml

story2200.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I am currently a Vice President for an Information Technology consulting firm in NYC. I was formerly a NYC Paramedic. On 9/11, after the second plane hit the South Tower, local radio stations were announcing, "...off duty fire, police, paramedics and nurses should respond downtown." As a Paramedic, I had been involved in the disaster drills at the WTC. I knew the protocols and procedures. I wanted to help. I needed to help. My wife called. She asked me if I was going downtown. I said I wasn't sure. But, we both knew the real answer. I left my office and headed for the subways.
At Grand Central Station, the trains were held and stopped. Unknown to us at that time, the South Tower had collapsed. I told an NYPD officer that I was an off-duty Paramedic and had to get downtown. He brought me over to a Sergeant, who had an off-duty fireman with him. Officers from the NYPD Transit division drove us downtown. As we went past Union Square, we saw people walking slowly, almost in a daze. As we proceeded further down Broadway, people were more anxious, and running North. The officers turned right on Vesey Street and left us off at Vesey St. near Church Street. The fireman and I got out and we saw police and fireman at a North Tower entrance, waving to us to join them. The fireman and I started to run over, but then we started to be pelted by rocks and debris. The North Tower was starting to collapse.
The fireman with me (I never did get his name), grabbed me by the collar, pulled me and yelled, "RUN!? I'm no athlete (not by any stretch...) but we ran back to Broadway.
We started to run north on Broadway (near Fulton St.). We heard this roar and there was this dark gray cloud covering Broadway. It looked like a pyroclastic cloud from a volcano. I ducked in front of an ambulance that had been parked on Broadway. The cloud swallowed everything in its path. Everything went dark. It was hard to see and breathe. I heard glass breaking and car alarms going off. Afterwards, there was silence. Just like the morning after a snowstorm. Everything was monochromatic.... gray. People, cars, buildings, everything. I teamed up with other EMS staff and we headed back to "Ground Zero". The dust was thick around my feet and swirled in the air. The only color was occasional patches of red and pink. We started to treat people. The injuries ran the full range from "boo-boos" to severe head injuries. We passed the minor injuries to other people to be transported to local hospitals. We triaged the serious and critical injuries. I pronounced 16 people dead. I saw a foot sticking out of debris; I ran over and started to remove the debris, hoping for someone still alive. It was just a foot still in its shoe. It had been torn just above the ankle. I carried it with me, looking for someone to give it to... The air had the smell of burning flesh. Trust me, once you smell it, you never forget it. People around me commented, "what is THAT smell?" Two people vomited when I told them. We had heard that between 80-100 people had jumped to their death prior to the towers collapsing. Absolutely amazing...
We were moved back up Broadway near Canal Street. There we treated more "walking wounded". Cell phones were out of service and some pay phones had long lines waiting to use them. I walked into a women's clothing store and asked to use the phone. The owner was very gracious and said I could. I called my office, told them I was fine and asked for them to call my wife and tell her I was OK.
The remainder of the day, we were moved from one area to another, but there was no one left to treat.
We had been moved to West Broadway, near Canal Street. Ambulances were lined up, as were Police and Fire. Sirens were in the air and the crowd parted to let a police car and a blue Jaguar enter. The Jaguar parked and out stepped a tall dark haired physician in a white lab coat. He walked over to our group, which consisted of EMT's and Fire officials. The doctor said he was a trauma surgeon and need to go down "there" to amputate a woman's leg that was trapped. He looked at me dressed as I was in a tie and dress slacks. He asked if I was a doctor. I said no, a Paramedic. He said, "Good, come with me". An ambulance drove us down as far as they could. We had to walk the last 3 blocks and firemen escorted us to the women. She was trapped by the Customs House on Vesey Street, which was now covered by the North Tower. 7 WTC was behind us and the front of the building had been ripped open and was on fire. The woman was trapped under an overhang of debris. The firemen looked nervous. They kept saying, "Make it fast guys, it's not safe here". No kidding. The debris was piled 40 or 50 feet high and ran from West St to Broadway. You heard the creaking of the steel and concrete debris. The woman was in her late 40's. She was covered with dust and dirt. Her left leg below the knee was buried under debris. I think she was Hispanic. She wasn't conscious, but would occasionally scream, cry and then pass out. I took vitals and started the IV. The doctor prepared for the amputation. The doctor injected a sedative into the IV line and started to amputate her leg. I heard a couple of "Oh Shits!" from the firemen behind us. Between the creaking of the debris and the heat from the 7 WTC fire, it was surreal, yet I was scared. Real scared. After the leg was amputated we bandaged the stump. The firemen carried her back to the ambulance and one fireman helped the doctor. I never knew her name, nor did I find out what became of her.
I then got a lift to my final destination...Stuyvesant High School. It had become a command post. There was law enforcement officers from every city/state and federal agency...armed to the teeth. Rumors were running rampant. The White House had been hit, the Supreme Court was hit, and Air Force One was shot down in mid-air. No one knew for sure. We were all concerned, down right scared at times, but I saw a raw determination from these people (men and women), a brewing anger that was ready to explode.
There was a poor School Safety Officer sitting at the reception desk at the school and a number of NYPD asked if juice drinks and food could be brought from the cafeteria to feed the people there. The School Safety Officer said he didn't have the key. Two big (real big) NYPD Emergency Service Police Officers, said, "don't worry about it". They came back 10 minutes later with loaves of bread, bologna, cans of juice and a large bolt cutter...
By 4pm, the "cavalry" had arrived from across the tri-state area, yet again; there was no one to treat. I walked up West Broadway to Canal Street and I saw a van with NYPD officers in it. They were kind enough to give me a lift to 8th avenue and 14th street. I took the subway to Penn Station and grabbed the first train home. I was so covered in dust, dirt and blood, no one on the packed train wanted to sit near me. I walked into my house and my kids hugged me, my wife hugged me and then started to hit me on my chest. She cried. I cried. It took 3 showers before I felt clean again. Like the rest of the world, I then watched on TV what had occurred.
On the one year anniversary , I still think about it. I see it when I close my eyes. I taste it in my mouth. I'll never forget that day.