September 11th, 2001

A recollection of that terrible day by someone who was on the scene

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This piece was written by Lyme Ambulance’s own Karen Dahle about her first-hand experience as an EMT volunteering near Ground Zero on 9/11. It was originally published in the LAA Newsletter in September, 2001, shortly after the attack.

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When you take the date of this most monstrous attack, it translates to 911, a number we are all familiar with. Am I reading more into this, or was this coincidence planned? 911 means emergency to everyone in this country. As a responder to 911 calls with Lyme Ambulance, I know that we are dispatched when something is out of control; an automobile accident, a fall off a ladder, an illness that just isn’t responding to home care. As a result, you can draw the conclusion that most volunteers in both ambulance services and fire services have control issues. We come to help put our patient’s life back in order, give them back a sense of control over their lives. September 11th [2001] has taught us the lesson that we have no control over our lives, that we can only in some way control our response to what is happening to us or around us.

“It changed our lives irrevocably”

We will remember what we were doing or where we were when we learned of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. It has changed our lives irrevocably. We were all there because the images that were brought into our lives repeatedly over the next few days by television. In fact, in order to make this more real and an actuality, most of us remained glued to the ‘set’ for the next few days. We were all touched by this day because we saw it happen, and the repercussions of this extraordinary event are being felt emotionally, physically, spiritually, and financially every day in some small or big way.

“As far as the eye could see, ambulances were lined up, approximately 600 of them… all waiting to help”

I got to be closer to the attack on the 11th because I was in New York at a doctor’s appointment. During the appointment all physicians were called back to their affiliated hospitals to await the victims of the fire and subsequent collapse of the many World Trade Center buildings. I asked if I could be of any help in triage and I was sent to New York Presbyterian Hospital burn unit where they were expecting a rush of patients. No patients had come in yet, so I was dispatched by ambulance to the Chelsea Piers on 23rd Street. This was a major triage center where 26 makeshift emergency surgeries had been set up. We waited and waited and no patients came. After eight hours passed, ambulances were dismissed only to be replaced by other ambulances from other states. As far as the eye could see, ambulances were lined up, approximately 600 of them, labeled as BLS (basic life support) or ALS (advanced life support)… all waiting to help.

“… (the) ambulance I was stationed on was sent further downtown. It was complete darkness. No electricity. Black smoke … there seemed to be no street because the debris was so thick and the pavement had shifted.”

At 8 PM, the ALS ambulance I was stationed on was sent further downtown. It was complete darkness. No electricity. Black smoke. The only things we could see were the handheld red flashlights directing us. There seemed to be no street because the debris was so thick and the pavement had shifted. By accident we were diverted to Beekman Downtown Hospital, for the police thought by seeing our lights we were carrying a patient. At the hospital, doctors, nurses and other emergency personnel rushed to our ambulance hoping to help… and there was no patient there. We were turned around and sent further downtown to be stationed near the Con Ed Power Plant, but we quickly moved for fear of the heat from the ambulance causing an explosion with the gas pipelines from Brooklyn Union Gas so perilously close under the surface of unstable streets. We ended up at an EMS and Fire Station under the FDR Highway at the South Street Seaport. We again waited and waited to be dispatched to carry patient to hospitals that were also ready and waiting to help. At 2 a.m. we were dismissed, only to be replaced by an ambulance from Boston. It was their turn to wait. 

“Many of you experienced a kind of helplessness while watching this event so far away. We [EMS] experienced the same sense of impotence.”

I have spoken to many friends who are physicians, one a surgeon who was sent to Ground Zero. They all waited. And not one of us saw a patient on that dreadful day. Many of you experienced a kind of helplessness while watching this event so far away. We experienced the same sense of impotence. We all felt that we wanted to do something and those of us who were close enough could only be there if needed. But our waiting could never come close to the agonizing waiting of the families of those working at the World Trade Center who were waiting for a shred of news. A word or scrap of information that their loved ones were alive somewhere.

“There were so many heroes in and around this event. Not only the emergency personnel who lost their lives saving others, but workers who escaped while carrying a stranger down 80 or 100 flights of stairs.”

I revisited Ground Zero a week ago to say goodbye to those people we all waited for. To the Lost Heroes, great and small. To beautiful buildings that represented our strength and grandeur. And most of all, to an innocence that once was ours. There were so many heroes in and around this event. Not only the emergency personnel who lost their lives saving others, but workers who escaped while carrying a stranger down 80 or 100 flights of stairs. A man who had a shoe store who had all his sneakers and running shoes out on the sidewalk so people could run away from danger faster. We lost so much more than words can express but over 22,000 people were able to escape from the Towers and more people who were in subways and trains underneath Towers, brought up through manhole covers to streets that no longer existed. It is a miracle that so many people were saved. They are trying to rebuild their lives with a spirit and hope that represents America. They have control over their response to what happened to them, and we must take back our sense of control over our lives. We live each day with uncertainty — but with hope. We must live each day recognizing that our neighbors’ rights and concerns are as important to them as ours are to us. We must live each day caring for all people and celebrating not only our similarities, but being tolerant of our differences, for life is short and there are no guarantees that our innocence will return.

“I revisited Ground Zero a week ago [2001] to say goodbye to those people we all waited for. To the Lost Heroes, great and small. To beautiful buildings that represented our strength and grandeur. And most of all, to an innocence that once was ours.“

“We live each day with uncertainty — but with hope.”

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