Sometimes Nurses Can’t Really Help; We Just Have to Hope

Today we are eight years out from Sept. 11, 2001.

In some ways, it’s been a short eight years since the tragedy that happened in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Somerset County, Pennsylvania; in other ways, it’s been a long eight years.

I still find it difficult to look at pictures from that day – the burning World Trade Center towers, the disbelief and fear in the faces of New Yorkers as they stare at those towers or run from the giant dust cloud that enveloped lower Manhattan; the smoke billowing from the Pentagon; and the charcoal crater left by Flight 93 after it crashed in the field near Shanksville, Pa.

I remember wondering that Tuesday morning how emergency crews – doctors, nurses, paramedics, firefighters and police officers – would handle the hundreds of seriously ill and injured that were bound to be rushed through their doors. As it turned out, there were very few seriously injured. Victims either escaped with non-life-threatening injuries or they died. I read that staffs in emergency rooms around New York City waited and waited. When no trauma victims arrived, they knew it was really bad.

Some nurses from around the country were compelled to go to New York City, without even knowing what might be there. Jerry Lucas RN, felt the call. After his 12-hour shift in an ER in New Albany, Ind., he drove for 12 hours to get to Ground Zero. In 2005, he recounted his story on a Web site for nurses:

“Like many other people, after the first plane hit the World Trade Center, I watched the television in horror as events unfolded. Then I called my boss and told her that I was going to New York to help out. I left home, drove for 12 hours and arrived at 2a.m. I could see a bright glow over the city. You could see smoke, but all I can remember is the glow of fire. When I got to Ground Zero it was like something out of a war movie. I worked side by side with the real heroes of the day -- the police, firefighters and the emergency medical services.

“The feeling of loss was indescribable. I worked throughout the night and all the following day. Words cannot describe what the situation was like.

“Once, when I walked out of Ground Zero, I met people wandering around with pictures of missing loved ones. I was asked if I could tell them anything. That is when I wept; how do you tell people about hell on Earth?”

Later that day – on Sept. 12 – Lucas drove home to meet some family obligations.

“I felt ashamed that I had not stayed longer and (given) more of my skills and time to help the rescue effort,” he continued. “I felt that, as a nurse, I should have given more to my country during a time of need.”

I’m sure Lucas’ frustration was shared by many nurses on Sept. 11, 2001, who could do little but watch as events unfolded. As helping professionals, we usually feel that there must be something we can do to “make it better.” We’ll never forget the events of that day. We’ll just hope that time can make living with these memories a little easier.