LLUAHSC - Spring 2002 Newscope

Newscope

LLUMC staff gives medical attention to recovery workers

[SCOPE, Spring 2002]

Well wishers stand on the side of the street giving encouragement to recovery workers as they drive by to assist at the New York World Trade Center. The DMAT christened this group of individuals as the “wavers.” These people were at the site every day giving their support to the rescue effort.

Six members of the medical staff of Loma Linda University Medical Center spent two weeks in New York City where they gave medical attention to recovery workers at the site of the World Trade Center attacks.

The team flew to New York City September 23, and witnessed the more than four square miles covered with debris—which in some places was up to 150 feet deep.

The group is part of the San Bernardino County Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) CA-2, which is one of the top 10 readiness-level-one teams in the United States.

The team can be deployed within 12 hours and can be self-sufficient for 72 hours. They transport enough food, water, supplies, equipment, and pharmaceuticals to last the duration of their stay at a disaster site.
Once the team reached New York City, members were divided into five groups of nine people to staff each of the five treatment centers surrounding the site of the World Trade Center attacks. Each group consisted of a physician, psychological service personnel, at least two nurses, and paramedics or emergency medical technicians.

The whole team worked a rotating shift of 12 hours on and 24 hours off and rotated through the five treatment centers, some of which were at ground zero, while others were on the other side of numerous security checkpoints.

The more than 7,000 patients the team saw were mostly workers who came to the various treatment sites needing attention for everything from blisters or cuts, to breathing problems and broken bones.

“We basically treated and released,” says Ben Orate, RN, emergency department. “That’s how the firefighters, rescue workers, and construction workers liked it. They are just so dedicated. As exhausted as they are, they just want to keep on going.”

“For these firefighters, it was absolutely important that they not miss a minute of looking for their friends,” reports Frances Brown, RN, resource educator and student nurse assistive personnel (SNAP) charge nurse. “We were there to support them getting back to that job.”

The rescue workers were hopeful and very eager to return to the site of the collapsed towers. If they weren’t treated immediately, they would return to work and usually not come back for treatment, says Lea Lynch, MD, emergency department physician.

“Over time, when it became clear that there weren’t going to be any more rescues, they would linger a little bit longer and talk,” Dr. Lynch remembers.

She remembers one rescuer in particular who came in for a breathing treatment. He didn’t talk about the work he was doing, but as he was leaving, he asked, “Do you guys give out hugs too?”

“I said, ‘Of course, and you can come back any time,’” Dr. Lynch recounts.

Throughout the huge city, there was an incredible feeling of goodness as people gave of themselves to help those working at the site of the attacks, Ms. Brown recalls.

Each day, as the team would make the trip to and from ground zero, they would pass people standing on the street holding signs thanking the workers for their contribution to the rescue effort.

“At three in the morning they were standing there with cardboard signs in the rain, cheering the people going by because they were helping their fellow New Yorkers,” adds Ms. Brown.

One day the team members were walking from one treatment site to another when the police advised them that a group of family members of the victims was coming through the area on a tour.

“As soon as we turned the corner, there was a group of about 50 family members,” recalls Allen Francis, RN, night charge nurse, emergency department. “We just hopped up on the curb, took our hats off out of respect and let them pass.”

One of the family members, a woman holding onto the arm of an elderly woman, made eye contact with Mr. Francis. Her eyes were filled with tears.

“[She] mouthed the words ‘thank you’ to me three times,” he describes. “I just can’t describe the feeling that I had. I didn’t deserve that. And I’m sorry that we couldn’t do more for her.”

[SCOPE, Spring 2002]