Tragedy hits home:

SUNY metropolitan colleges, hospitals heed call of duty

SUNY colleges and teaching hospitals in the New York City metropolitan area jump-started themselves into overdrive to aid victims and rescue efforts after searing terrorist attacks killed and wounded thousands in Manhattan.

As the World Trade Center’s twin towers collapsed, there were multiple, urgent responses to help. SUNY Downstate Medical Center, in nearby Brooklyn, treated 50 patients injured in the attack, mostly for smoke inhalation, eye injury and stress-related ailments. Stony Brook Health Sciences Center treated 17 injured firemen, and sent four helicopters with paramedics to the attack site. SUNY Maritime sent its 12-member EMT squad to the scene, provided bedding to meet hospital overflow needs, and readied its ship for standby as a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) command and control center. SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse met with leaders of area hospitals and coordinated supplies and staff in case any overflow reached upstate New York.

At SUNY Downstate, “Everyone was working extra shifts. No one was going home. We’re very thankful,” said Ron Najman, media director for the Brooklyn hospital and a UUP member. SUNY Downstate reported that it collected more blood at its blood center in one day than it usually collects in a year.

Najman said the patients from the tragedy came to SUNY Downstate in a “steady stream” rather than one big rush as had been expected. The acrid smoke and falling rubble sent people walking and running over the Brooklyn Bridge, away from Manhattan, covering their faces.

Most hospitals expected to treat more injured, but there were fewer survivors than expected, he said.

Outside the hospital chapel, there is a list of two dozen names of sons, daughters, siblings and friends of SUNY Downstate employees who are missing. The chapel held services every hour immediately after the attack. Najman said the hospital has already reached out to the New York City Board of Education, offering to provide counseling for local schools, using counselors from its psychiatry department. It has also offered counseling services to workers in local police precincts and fire departments.

Students at the teaching hospital raised money for clean socks, T-shirts, underwear and eyewash for the rescuers, and are continuing to seek funds for community centers in the East Flatbush area of Brooklyn that are serving people emotionally and financially affected by the attacks.

“There’s a feeling of great sadness, but also great determination to do what we do best — to help people and to educate people,” Najman said.

On Long Island, Stony Brook HSC was put on alert to expect victims shortly after the disaster occurred in New York City. The hospital’s emergency response team joined the wave of action building across the state by opening a command center on the 14th floor. Physicians, nurses, administrators and EMS specialists focused on meeting the needs of emergency patients. Patients who could be safely discharged were sent home, clearing critical care, burn unit and medical/surgical beds. Arrangements were made for around-the-clock coverage of emergency and operating rooms and nursing staff. Provisions were made for triage, holding areas, child care and support services, and on-site counseling.

“Staff and management from every area of the hospital displayed a heartwarming outpouring of support, efficiency and effectiveness in making plans to accommodate expected victims,” said Stony Brook UUP Chapter President Edward Drummond, noting the efforts of college President Shirley Strum Kenny. “Countless employees volunteered to perform whatever duties would be helpful to the overall effort. Our doctors are receiving media recognition for their expertise in dealing with a crisis like this one.”

Hospital staff members also volunteered in New York City, making arrangements with the Suffolk County Emergency Medical System. At the hospital, employees lined the hall of the blood bank to donate. Vendors and drug suppliers remained on standby with offers to provide whatever was needed. Security precautions were heightened.

At SUNY Maritime, located in the Bronx within site of the World Trade Center, the college offered the use of its dorms and showers to several local police precincts. Students, under the direction of Maritime’s Naval ROTC unit, headed out to Chelsea Pier to tie lines for the hospital ship USNS Comfort — manned by MEBA and Seafarers unionists — once it docked. More than 300 cadets were put on standby for volunteer duty anywhere in the city. The campus response included UUPers and others donating blood for the cause. University Police implemented additional security measures on campus. Staff, faculty and clergy provided counseling and support to students, many of whom witnessed the attacks and the collapse of the twin towers.

“Sept. 11 was an absolutely beautiful clear day, a lot of people were outside,” said Rebecca McCaffrey, assistant director for university advancement at Maritime. “We have such a beautiful view of the city; if you stand anywhere along the water you can see it. We were able to see the second tower and then there was nothing.”

On the Friday after the attacks, Sept. 14, which President George Bush declared a national day of mourning, Maritime held a formal wreath-laying ceremony to remember the victims. The college, knowing some of its alumni were among the victims at the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, will host a formal ceremony once they receive final word about survivors.

At Upstate Medical University, some of the critical care staff joined the Red Cross to go to New York City, some of its staff was with the Army Reserves and many of the staff who stayed in Syracuse took hospital shuttles to a nearby blood-donor site.

“I really think everyone in the SUNY family should feel a certain measure of satisfaction in how they handled this,” SUNY Downstate’s Najman said.

-- Liza Frenette