Where were u 9/11/01?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

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 ER, NICU, NSY and some other stuff.

I was home with my new one month old. I got a call from dh at work to turn on the tv. This was just as the second plane hit. I was just in shock watching this unfold.

Add that to post-partum depression.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in SDU, Tele, Hospice, Radiology, Education.

My sister and I were at Walmart in the electronics section and all of a sudden, the TV flipped to the shot of the Towers being hit by a plane. We couldn't believe it!

I worked 3-11 that night (I was an escort/janitor--the hospital I work at calls them Support Associates) and I just remember that we were on diversion status and we were so busy the first couple of hours sending patients home and cleaning rooms so that we were ready just in case we got any patients from the disaster.

I will never forget.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC.

I was a senior in high school sitting in sociology watching Footloose when another teacher came running into class to inform my teacher. We turned on the TV just after the second plane hit. All I remember is sitting there saying under my breath over and over again "Oh my God" in complete and utter disbelief. I distinctly remember the feeling of complete horror I felt in my stomach when I saw the towers collapse. I had just watched at least a thousand people die on live TV. There was also a feeling of complete fear when I heard that the Pentagon had been hit too. I always thought of the Pentagon as where all the big head honchos of the military sat making their vital descisions that kept us safe. It left me with this horrible feeling of vulnerability. The rest of that day was a blur though. I honestly don't remember what else happened the rest of the day in school.

I do know I had to go to work after school. I was working in a party store. We pulled out the radio and spent several hours listening to the news reports. We were normally busy around that time, but at the most we had one customer. Around 6pm that night we got a memo from corporate telling us to close the store for the night.

I believe that 9/11 is what really sparked my desire to be a nurse. I had this feeling of complete and utter helplessness. Even if I were anywhere near New York I had no skill that would have allowed me to do too much to help others. I never wanted to feel that again.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I was in my pediatric rotation. I remember a mom telling me about it when I went into her toddlers room. We were sent home shortly after. The hospital sent all students home. I've always heard people talk about what they were doing when Kennedy was shot. Now I understand, I will never forget what I was doing on 9/11.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Mental Health and MR/DD.

I was in nursing school, sitting outside talking to a fellow student about class. We went back inside and the security guard came into the classroom and told everyone to leave because they were shutting down the school for security reasons.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I was in High School and we had class pictures that day and as we were leaving a teacher came up to our teacher and said something about planes flying really low, then we came back and the period ended and the TV was on in all the class rooms for the next period so we all just watched CNN for the rest of the day, almost like school was cancelled.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

I remember things like this before 9/11.

I wasn't alive during Kennedy's assassination, but so many of my loved ones were, and I heard so many heart felt stories that I feel like I was there too!

Then there was mine...the explosion of the space shuttle. I was skipping that day and we saw the take off on TV at a local mall (I was with some friends that had lunch that period...actually I just skipped teacher assistant time...grading papers...whoooo hoo what a rebel I was..LOL!). We watched in disbelief and horror. NO..that explosion was a fuel tank or something and the shuttle was fine....no...it was gone and we were all (several people gathered at the TV store watching) gaped mouthed and in shock....

Then we had the time when Desert storm was announced. My brother was in the Navy at the time..and I was with my parents...we were so down and our only thoughts were of keeping my brother and his navy friends happy, and planned many gift packages that we delivered without missing a beat for three years!

Then this..and this took the cake! I couldn't and still can't fathom it all...it is too big for me. Watching at the moment that plane hit the second...then watching later as they both fell...then hearing about the pentigon and Penn (which was later for us...they weren't sure at that time what was going on there for quite some time). I think I really was in shock for many days...even though I was watching it live! It was too much for my brain to even take in.....

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in L&D.

I will never forget.

I use to be a big time chatter. So I was doing my usual thing of having coffee in the am while yacking on the mic with my friends. I had the TV on to my left and I remember seeing a plane hit a building. I thought, thats a movie. Then I realized it was the news channel and NOT a movie! I told everyone via voice chat to turn ON their tvs quick! No one else had theirs on at that point...

We shared the next hour or so together in disbelief. I called my childrens school and made sure that was all ok. I walked outside and looked up at the sky. There was no traffic in the air which was unusual because I live in the Philadelphia area. The air was dead quiet.

Across the street there were 2 men with a bulldozer working on putting a house site up. I thought, they have no clue. I walked over and told them that they should call home and find out all thats happened. They thanked me.....

I spent the day crying and watching the horrific events.

I am watching the news today and just finding myself crying and crying. I don't think the USA will ever be the same.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

I was so thinking it was a movie or just strange too! My father screamed at me to turn on the TV...and I thought...why is that plane hitting that building..what building...huh? And I thought it was just an accident for a few moments...."oh dear...that is sad...hope they get the people out of the building"...I don't think at the time I realized that that was a larger plane really...I think I thought it was some small plane hitting by accident.

BUT..minutes later..that changed...the words from the TV hit, and hit just as hard! It wasn't a movie or trailer for a movie..or an accident....it was two of two there, and only two of four total............

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in CCU MICU Rapid Response.

I was leaving my job at the bus company on my way to school, and remembered I left my bag at home. I heard about the first plane as I sat at the stoplight by our grocery store. Didnt know what was happening just then. The drive to school is through a long stretch of corn and bean country. The sky was such a bright blue... and I listened to the radio as I drove. We all stood in quiet disbelief as we watched the news unfold at school. many classes were cancelled. Often since then, when traveling that road, the sky is just the right shade and I am transported back in time. What a life changing day... God Bless.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

Ivanna...I do that too! It was a gorgeous day weather wise...and I think I still look at pretty days as a deception some times....

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I had an appointment that morning at an office with 3 people.

One of the 3 was a real clown, and kept making jokes.

At 9:20, he stuck his head in the door where I was beginning a health history, and said that 2 planes had flown into the WTC. I thought he was joking, and started to say, "I really don't think that's funny."

Then I looked at his face, and knew this wasn't a joke. I asked them (my cell phone was in my car) if I could use their phone to call my wife, who's from New York, was at home, and wouldn't have the TV on.

After speaking to her, I took a couple of minutes just to get myself together, and completed the health history. I've saved a copy of that. My handwriting on it is different from anything else I've ever written, before or after.

The weather in North Carolina was like the weather in New York that day: bright, crisp, and clear. Completely unlike the emotional atmosphere that day.

We couldn't get through to my wife's family that day: the phone system was just overwhelmed. We finally got through that night, on my sister-in-law's cell phone, who sobbed that she had seen the buildings collapse from her office. Our son was a college sophomore that day. I called him that morning, to make sure he was doing OK. "I'm fine," he responded, "But I'm going to give blood."

I was teaching a middle school Sunday school class at that time, and the following Sunday, I went around the group, and asked them where they were when they heard the news. Then I told them that the reason I was asking was because they would still remember that moment 40 years from now.

Of course, they didn't believe me. But they will remember, and it will be -- as it is for anyone above age 8 or 9 -- a completely vivid and strong memory.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment