Where were u 9/11/01?

Nurses General Nursing

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They only reason I'm starting this thread is b/c where I was on this date will forever be memoriable to my nursing career. Just 1 or 2 phrases to tell where u were at the time of the attacks....

I was in Fall semester Nursing School, senior year....1st days on the floor of our Psyc Rotation....all the TVs on the unit were on. It was a very interesting place to be during such a time.

Specializes in Case Management, Home Health, UM.
Wow, this is amazing...see how we're all affected by this. All the posters have one thing in common, we all knew what we did that whole day.

Yes, and it was just like the day that JFK was assasinated. I was in the 7th grade (see how OLD I am??), and my class had just returned from recess. We were waiting for our History lesson to start, when our teacher dashed into the room and gasped: "President Kennedy's been shot!" I remember my blood just turning cold as my classmates looked at each other in disbelief. That quickly turned to horror, when our teacher returned a few minutes later and announced that JFK had died. I will never forget the look on his face, the collective gasp which followed and how frightened I was. All I could think about was the Russians attacking us next and killing us all. And I couldn't help but wonder five years ago today, if the terrorists were also going to do the same. A very eerie feeling. :(

P.S.--My oldest grandchild was born on the 36th anniversary of JFK's assasination: 11/22/99.

Unbelieveable.

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Specializes in Cardiac, Acute/Subacute Rehab.

I was taking my mother to the airport for a flight to Washington DC :eek: the morning of 9/11. She was going to a conference thing for the Vietnam memorial. We heard bits and pieces of what was going on on the radio (on our way to the airport), but it made my mom nervous, so we turned it off. We got to the airport (flights hadn't been cancelled yet), dropped her off....

It was on my way back home that I realized what was going on, so I turned around to go back to the airport to keep her from going on the plane. Security wouldn't let me in..told me to turn back around, that no planes were going anywhere yet. It took them 6 hours to let them out of the airport...

My mom was nearly hysterical (as were the rest of our family, knowing where she was supposed to go).....her original flight was about an hour earlier than when she left, but she didn't want to connect in ATL, so she changed to a non-stop flight the day before. God bless her for doing that. Then again, I would have driven to Washington that morning to get her if I had to.....

Yeah, it's creepy how so many people remember where they were on that day. It's still a raw, festering wound for so many. For me? I'm glad my mom changed her flight.

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I was working for the federal government in Bethesda (a suburb right outside of DC) on 9/11. I remember walking to work I had my discman on and I was listening to the radio and I heard about the first plane hitting the WTC, and I thought it was an accident. Than I got to work and was preparing work for the day and heard about the second tower being hit. Everyone in the lab ran into the staff room to watch the TV, we were glued to it and watched as they reported that the pentagon was hit and that all federal employees had to evacuate. It was crazy - everyone started freaking out - we heard there was a 4th plane that was hijacked and that DC was probably a target. It was mass chaos getting out of the facility as everyone left at once and nobody wanted to go on the metro. As a few of my coworkers and I were leaving the building we heard the fighter jets above - it was very eerie and not a sound that we were used to hearing. My roommate at the time was working in downtown DC and she had a very hard time getting out of the city to our apartment and I was worried for her all day until she got back. I had a lot of friends that lived in NYC and I spent the whole day trying to contact them but the cells weren't working there and I was calling their families to make sure they were OK. What a change that day was - the next day the metros in DC had military police everywhere and you couldn't get into our building without being searched, your car searched... it was definately a day that changed America.

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Specializes in Public Health, DEI.

Today is my birthday and the birthday of a woman who used to be my co-worker. This woman immigrated here from Mexico, and at the time, she still wasn't quite fluent in English. I walked into the office, all ready to wish a Happy Birthday to us, and she was sitting on the sofa in the waiting area, pale as a ghost. I asked her what was wrong, fully believing she was about to tell me someone I knew was dead. When she told me about the Towers, I thought she must have misunderstood. We turned on the radio, and I discovered that it was just as she said. I hadn't heard because I never bothered to change the radio station from Radio Disney, which my son had been listening to as I drove him to school. Everyone else started filtering in and our boss at the time called and told us to go home, we were closed. But we're going out for our birthday lunch, we protested (another co-worker has a birthday on Sept. 14) Fine, but not from the office, you're not, was the reply. We did end up going to lunch at Acapulco, where the atmosphere was very subdued. I think we were still in shock, because looking back, it was not a day to be celebrating anything.

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Specializes in Telemetry/Med Surg.

Yes, and the eerie silence in the skies with no planes flying afterwards.

My dear friend is an air traffic controller covering the northeast and he obviously was involved in communications and getting these planes down. Something happened to him that day--he still cannot and will not discuss it.

http://attacked911.tripod.com/

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I was on a travel assignment about 40 or so miles outside of NYC (Long Island). I was sleeping in preparation for night shift. When my wife woke me up that pm is when she told me she had something to tell me and then she turned the TV back on for me. Will never forget that day as long as I live. Alot of emotions.....I worked with staff that had family members that were NYPD and FDNY they didn't know if they were alive or dead, also some had family that worked in the twin towers.

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

Do you know I went to NYC with my friends xmas shopping and they wanted to go to the World Trade Centre site, and there were people there selling photographs in the street like ticket touts-they didnt come near us again!!!!!!!They weren't selling them for charity unless it was their own

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I was working at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. My office was in major crosswalk so everyone was stopping in to see what was going on. The thing that I will always remember was that just about every ethnic/religious group was represented in our office as well as professionals...M.D.s, medical students, R.N.s, auxillary staff and the general public. We all knew what was happening to our country at that particular time. I was extremely sad but at the same time proud to be with such a diverse group. Everyone's heart was in the right place on that morning.

Thank you all for remembering those lost as well as honoring the heroes.

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I was at home watching TV. It was really horrible, SUZY 253, I really appreciated the link. It's so sad.

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It was just after 3 pm here, I was in the car with my ex, A. on the way to a high street pet store to get something or other. I remember the news was on the car radio and the announcer came on with a sketchy report that a plane had crashed into one of the twin towers. The naive mental image I got at the time was that of a small cessna-like plane having a freak accident grazing one of the buildings. Both A. and I have been over to visit NYC several times and I have enjoyed a most elegant and luxurious meal in the Windows on the World restaurant at the top of the North Tower of the WTC.

Once out of the shop with purchases in hand and in the car again, the reports on the radio came in more detailed and all normal progamming was cancelled. We rushed home to turn on the TV and were in complete,utter shock as we watched live the events in NYC unfolding. I didn't turn off the TV for several days, I literally lived on the couch. I just sat there, terrified, watching the different footage over and over, thinking this is the end of life as I have known it up till now.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I was on call and getting ready for work. I lived less than 1/2 mile from the hospital. When I first heard it, they thought it was an accident. by the time I walked to work, they knew it was a terrorist attack.

tvccrn

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Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

I was getting my son ready for school, and my hubby about to leave for work. Typical day actually.

My father lived with us (still does) and came out of his room screaming at us to turn the TV on NOW! Okay, dad never does this so on the TV went in a flash...Just as my hubby got his kiss goodbye and left. My father, son and I watched in horror as the second plane hit...STUNNED! I don't think I said much for a minute or so...just had my hand on my chest and a look of utter "what?" and disbelief...nor did I know what the situation was...all I knew was a plane hit a building (not even where it was or anything!).

Then the info came out loud and clear as the announcer said "A second plane has hit the other tower!!!". I got it in a flash! And hugged my child so hard still in shock...he was silent as he tried to gather the info and my reaction!

The bus was waiting outside for my child, and I really didn't have time to debate if he should go or not. SOmething in my head said to keep things business as usual for now till I had more information...so I gave him a huge kiss and told him that the school was safe and the teachers would certainly be explaining things today! I told him to call me if he felt unsafe and I would come get him.

Then I tried to reach my hubby on the phone. He is a paramedic and was going off to a very rural area for 2 days of shift. He forgot his cel phone and pager that day...which never occurs!!! That really ticked me! LOL! So I called up to the Fire Station he was going to be posted in and told the other paramedic to turn on their TV and get the fire folks too! After gasps and a few choice words heard over the phone...I knew they were informed...and asked them to please let my hubby know.

I guess my hubby heard it as he was pulling out of the drive, and booked it to work to let them know! Since he is EMS, they get put on instant high alert...so he knew they needed to gather quick and find out where they needed to be and where (in case the paramedics were to be re-routed to the city).

It was a scary time, and I think it was truley the day America changed, and everyone around me changed, and I changed.

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