October 2001 • Volume 7 • Number 10
Terrorist attacks kill two FPs; other FPs help victims
BY JODY McAULAY GLOOR
Early on Tuesday, Sept. 11, family physician Frederick Rimmele, M.D., left his home in Marblehead, Mass.; caught a flight in Boston; and headed for the central California coast for some much-anticipated bird-watching and an Academy CME course.
FP Paul Ambrose, M.D., M.P.H., boarded another flight that morning in Washington, D.C. His destination: Los Angeles and a conference on preventing youth obesity -- a topic on which he recently completed some research for HHS.
But neither made it. Terrorists hijacked Rimmele's United flight and crashed it into the south tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing all 65 people aboard and thousands more. And somewhere over Ohio, terrorists commandeered Ambrose's American airliner, headed back to Washington and slammed it into the Pentagon, killing all 64 people aboard and 125 others.
HONORING THE VITIMS
Frederick Rimmele, M.D., 32, was flying to Los Angeles and then on to Monterey, Calif., to attend an AAFP course, "Geriatric Medicine for the Family Physician," which was cancelled after the terrorist attacks. He practiced at the Hunt Center in Danvers, Mass., and taught at the family practice residency at Beverly Hospital in Danvers. His wife, Kimberly Trudel, and other family members ask that donations be made in Rimmele's name to the Nature Conservancy, 4245 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203. Please refer to account #2861662.
Paul Ambrose, M.D., also 32, was a fellow at HHS who worked on health care policy in Washington, D.C. His parents, with the Marshall University School of Medicine, have established a scholarship in his memory. Contributions can be mailed to Linda Holmes, Marshall University School of Medicine, 1600 Medicine Center Drive, Huntington, WV 25701. Please make checks payable to: School of Medicine -- Paul Ambrose Scholarship.
Almost immediately, FPs on the ground began answering the cries for help. They jammed New York City hospitals, waiting to treat victims. Some walked or ran to the attack sites and joined emergency response teams in assessing the injured crawling from the smoke and debris. Many more called disaster agencies, offering their services wherever they were needed.
Academy member Neil Calman, M.D., president and co-founder of The Institute for Urban Family Health in New York City, was working just one mile away from "ground zero" at the twin towers when disaster struck.
"We were in touch immediately with all the emergency authorities," Calman said. "At that time, expectations were very high that there would be thousands of injuries. Unfortunately, that was not the case. By late Tuesday night, all the emergency care was being handled by nearby hospitals."
Just across the river from the towers, at St. Mary Hospital in Hoboken, N.J., family physician Abbie Jacobs, M.D., watched the 110-story buildings burn and collapse. Jacobs is director of the family practice residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The ensuing "mass exodus" from the city brought 158 victims to Hoboken's command central post.
"They came in on their own, kind of like the 'walking wounded,'" she said. "We had people who walked six miles to Queens to catch the ferry to get here. One woman with an Achilles tendon rupture had walked for miles. It was almost as if she wasn't aware of the injury."
No critical cases came to Hoboken, and many with minor injuries just wanted to talk about their experiences. One young woman who watched the terror unfold on her TV told how her husband called her from the south tower after the north building was struck. "Then that building was struck, and now he is presumed dead," Jacobs said. "She, like many others who have come in since, needs psychological help."
Soon after news of the attacks reached the AAFP's national headquarters, staff established a special hotline and e-mail address for members wanting to volunteer for rescue and relief efforts. During the next two days, more than 300 Academy members responded to the call. Several constituent chapters posted volunteer hotline numbers on their Web sites as well.
By Wednesday, physicians and Academy leaders turned their attention to the more serious emerging need -- counseling -- for victims, their families and friends, rescue workers, and all those who witnessed the attacks on-site or on TV.
Early that day, Calman and six other physicians walked the mile to ground zero. "It was clear that doctors had responded by the thousands," he said. "Rescue workers and firefighters were the only people getting treated there."
Calman later began counseling physicians and residents at the institute, he said, because they were "completely frustrated that their medical skills were of little or no help at that point." He e-mailed them expressing that their "regular" work still was very important.
The entire experience, he added, reminded him of the "incredibly critical role" family physicians have when tragedy strikes. "We can do it all. We can assess emergency needs. We can provide anesthesia. We can irrigate eyes, and we can treat burns and lacerations," he said. "And now we can counsel people."
On Thursday, Sept. 13, the Academy e-mailed a special bulletin to members and a letter to chapter executives, alerting them that many patients and their families will need counseling.
The Academy offered a list of resources, including clinical materials about diagnosing and treating post-traumatic stress disorder and materials to use when talking with patients of all ages, family members and colleagues. The list is posted online at http://www.aafp.org/resources/. For more FP involvement, go to http://www.aafp/org/publications/ and click on "AAFP News," then on "Directors' Newsletter," to read the Sept. 20 issue.
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2001 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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