Parole officers counsel WTC rescue workers By DEBORAH A. MILES The New York City Emergency Medical Services (EMS) battalion station under FDR Drive kept filling with billowing smoke from the World Trade Center ruins. It was like a big garage with a few chairs. That’s one of the things state parole officer and PEF member Martin Goldberg recalled about the days he worked as a volunteer counseling rescue workers just after the September 11 attack. “It was not a comfortable place.” Goldberg said. “There were about 20 to 25 rescue people there and everybody reacted differently. Some were despondent or traumatized, others needed to talk, and some just wanted to be left alone.” “People shied away from talking to the psychologist who was there. Being a parole office made it easier for them to talk to me,” he said. Goldberg, a licensed social worker for 20 years and parole officer for 12, said his training and experience as a parole officer helped him talk with the workers. Parole officers Lillian Passoni and Michelle Allen-Yon, who were trained in critical-incident response also counseled workers on their own time. Passoni worked at several EMS sites near “ground zero,” and Allen-Yon worked out of the crisis center in Stuyvesant High School. Goldberg spent most of his time counseling and making referral assessments for those who were seriously traumatized. “The attack affected me to the degree that I just wanted to help,” Goldberg said. “Mostly I listened to people. I found it very hard emotionally dealing with these guys. It was an unbelievable time.” The intense feelings at the EMS battalion at ground zero ranged from shock, sorrow, anger and revenge. What impressed Goldberg the most was the camaraderie among the rescue workers. “I was amazed at the strength they had,” he said. “If there was a common thread in this whole thing, it was that the rescue workers were there for each other.” The Communicator Home Page