October 19, 2001

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 forever will be marked as one of the most tragic, life-changing events in the history of this nation. Most people will remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news: for the first time in decades, the United States had been attacked on its own soil. For members of the Boston Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) and the International Medical Surgical Response Team (IMSuRT), the attacks marked the early deployment of their team of physicians, nurses and medical technicians to give emergency aid to the people of New York City. DMAT and IMSuRT member Tony Forgione, LPN, of MGH Same-Day Surgery, shared with Hotline his thoughts about that memorable experience:

Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, started out like any other day. Then the unthinkable happened.

As a member of IMSuRT and also a member of DMAT, I was part of the team from the hospital who left work at the MGH to be deployed as needed. Our first stop was Fort Stewart, a United States Air Force base. There we met other teams from Rhode Island, New York and Worcester, Mass.

We were informed by Dr. Briggs [Susan Briggs, MD, of MGH Surgery and director of DMAT and IMSuRT] that half of the team would be mobilized to New York City to establish the main medical station for the care of rescue workers. We arrived in the city, working through the night, unloading equipment and setting up. At 7 am, we were open and saw patients continuously, 24 hours each day.

Being the primary care providers, we treated all types of injuries, including respiratory problems, eye irritation, minor lacerations, chest pains, sprains and fractures and fatigue. We also helped with emotional issues.

As the perimeter of Ground Zero stabilized, we were able to establish four more satellite medical stations. Each one of these was staffed by a doctor, three or four nurses, and three or four Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) personnel. These stations also were open 24 hours, and each saw anywhere from 30 to more than 100 patients in an 8-hour period.

My first "up close" view of the devastation was at night. The light used to illuminate the scene gave the area a surreal atmosphere. Standing there, I was humbled and overwhelmed by the immensity of the destruction.

For me, the image that I will never forget happened during the last night of our deployment. As I was going back to the main medical station, I saw about eight firefighters silently, and reverently, carrying a basket stretcher. In it was a body bag. They were bringing one of their own back home. That's the image I will never forget.