 ‘...people’s lives were just torn up’ Paramedic flies to aid of Trade Center victims By SHERRY HALBROOK PEF member Joel Vetter says, “There isn’t much I haven’t seen in my nine years as a paramedic, but this is the most devastating thing you could ever see.” He is talking about the World Trade Center tragedy which he saw as few others did. Vetter is a steward in PEF Division 225 at SUNY Stony Brook and one of approximately six paramedics at the Medical Center who worked out of Suffolk County Police helicopters that were sent to aid in the rescue efforts around the clock after the center was attacked and collapsed. “I am one of eight state paramedics at Stony Brook permanently assigned to the aviation unit of the Suffolk County Police Department, which has three helicopters,” Vetter says. “We have worked at every high profile disaster on Long Island from the TWA crash to the wildfires a few years back, but this is the most devastating thing I’ve seen,” he says. How is it so much worse?  Partly, he says it’s the erie contrast between the size of the disaster and the relatively few survivors with physical injuries to stabilize and transport. Vetter put in 42 hours on the job between 3 p.m. on Tuesday, September 11 and 2 a.m. the following Friday, but was never able to transport even one survivor of the original collapse and only a few injured rescue workers. “There just weren’t that many people found alive,” he says. “Most of the injured were transported to local hospitals by ambulance. And those hospitals never filled up.” So, mostly what Vetter and the chopper crews did to support the rescue effort was transport key personnel and supplies, “and whatever they needed.” Nevertheless, the experience burned an indelible impression on his psyche. “It’s the devastation, and so many people whose lives were just torn up and thrown into total chaos,” that gets to him, says Vetter — who has a wife, 6-month-old twins and a 16-month-old foster son waiting when he finally struggles home after the long shifts. And, he says, there may be one other factor in why this assignment is affecting him as no other. “I used to work for St. Vincent’s Hospital (a few blocks from the World Trade Center) and I was assigned to staff an emergency medical station at the World Trade Center. So, I knew many of the police officers and firefighters who are missing.” The Communicator Home Page |
Temporary
NYC PEF office New Phone: (718) 522-4110 (718) 522-4171 (718) 522-4312 New Fax: (718) 852-9891 New Address: United Federation of Teachers 335 Adams St., 25th Floor, Brooklyn, NY  BORROWED SPACE — PEF leaders in New York City meet in temporary quarters in Brooklyn to review the needs of stricken members. — Photos by Roger Scales in
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