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AMATEUR RADIO - WTC 9/11 MY NEXT ASSIGNMENT
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"WTC 9/11- MY NEXT ASSIGNMENT"
EPILOGUE: MY LIFE IN A SHELTER
"GUNS AND ALL.."
Written by BOB HEJL - W2IK  c2003

          After a short respite at home, I once again volunteered for duty as a communicator. The Red Cross, by this time, had moved their operational headquarters for this disaster from Manhattan to their Brooklyn complex. Never having been at this location, I carefully followed the directions I had gotten from another amateur radio operator  and drove to Brooklyn.  The directions weren't as concise as I thought. It was very early in the morning and the average person wasn't active so the roads were fairly empty. I ended up driving around unfamiliar territory for an additional twenty minutes until a man driving a street sweeper gave me better directions. Luckily, my meanderings had me just a few blocks away from my destination.

          Driving closer to the Red Cross building, I saw that it was crowded with both Red Cross ERVs and cars belonging to volunteers. With the parking lots full, I opted to park on a side street. This street was also full of cars , although it was a "no parking zone". I squeezed in a spot and put my large, laminated  "Emergency Communications" plaque on my dashboard hoping that it would protect me from either a ticket or a tow.  Having replaced my "gray-ghost" go-bag with a new knapsack, and replenishing items used before, I got all my gear from the trunk of my car and walked into the Red Cross building. Even with my ARES/RACES uniform, I still had to show ID before I was allowed to enter. There were scores of people working, entering and leaving, so I imagine it was a bit difficult to keep track of everyone and make sure only qualified personnel were allowed entry. I was told where the radio operators were and I quickly wound my way around a few halls and up some stairs. This was a much more complex set up than I had encountered before. In the beginning of the event we seemed to "fly by the seat of our pants".

             I went into what appeared to be a meeting room and sat with about twenty other operators who were waiting for assignments. There was being passed around a clip board which we were required to sign in with our names and callsigns. Most of the radio ops at this point were very young. I must have been the "old man" of the group.  I introduced myself to the amateur radio operators who were sitting close by. All of them were here on their first assignment. After about an hour, the person in-charge of the communications operation came in and briefed us on what duties we might have. I am afraid to say that a number of communicators were unprepared, having no real go-bags and just armed with a handi-talkie. This might be enough for a parade or a simple operation, but our assignments were much more complex than that. These people would be given work at the Red Cross and not sent out into the field. (an example of how having a go-bag can mean the difference between a good communicator and a person who means well but adds little) After a short briefing, we were given our assignments. Mine would be at a shelter at a high school in midtown Manhattan. This was quite a distance from the disaster scene and housed mainly people who were either displaced when their buildings were damaged or people whose travels were interrupted when the airports were shut down. This time, I was told that the tours of duty would be about 12 hours. (hahahaha)

            With our assignments given, we were then issued special photo IDs. These not only listed our names, callsigns and duty date(s), but also limited our access to areas. Guess what..... mine said "No Ground Zero"... I guess they thought I had spent enough time in hell.   This form of ID was needed to prevent a few "go-getters" from taking it on their own and going to places they weren't needed. It made a lot of sense. This ID program included every active volunteer from Red Cross and not just communicators. A few of us were then escorted to a van that would transport us to our duty sites. As we drove into Manhattan, we were slowed by several check points where all vehicles were subject to very close inspection. The police were making sure that no one without specific business came into Manhattan. They were especially suspect of vans and trucks, which might conceal explosives. Tensions were still running very high.

           Once in Manhattan, it was much easier to get around. The everyday life was beginning to get back to normal. I was dropped off at my assignment and was told at the school that the shelter was up several flights, in the gym area. There were several police that were permanently stationed at the school. Classes were not yet in session. It would be several days before school was to resume. Getting off at the proper floor, as soon as I stepped out of the elevator, I could see boxes and boxes of items that were donated to the shelter by local businesses. Again, whenever an operator reports to a location, it is always wise to take mental notes of what is there in case the need to improvise occurs. This should be a rule in any EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS training manual. It is very important.

         I reported to the Red Cross shelter manager and she introduced me to the other volunteers there, including the amateur radio operator whom I would be replacing. The radio op gave me an operational "rundown" of the shelter and while he was still there I set up my radio equipment. This was quite different from my last duty. They had electrical power and being up several floors it was easy to contact the repeater. I checked in with Red Cross headquarters and told them I was at my duty site. I then thanked the radio operator and told him I hoped he had a safe trip back to Red Cross HQ. His tour had been a mere 16 hours.  Since there were no requests to be transmitted, I walked around the area to get a feel of the layout. I also engaged in small-talk with the other volunteers so I might get an understanding of how they operated and their past experience in shelter life. It was typical of so many other shelters that I had been assigned over the years during Long Island's many winter storms and hurricanes. There always seems to be a great deal of "turn over" with volunteers. During one hurricane on Long Island, I met a shelter manager who was to have completed her training the day the hurricane hit! Most people here had little, if any, experience in the field. Having experience in both this event and other disasters, I was often asked for my opinion regarding the operation.

           The people who were displaced, we call them the "clients", were housed in the gym. At that time, there were about 30 clients housed. This was down from a high of about 120 when the disaster first took place. There were two nurses stationed at the entrance to the gym to look after any health needs. Although qualified people I knew who wanted to volunteer as mental health workers were turned away after being told by the Red Cross that they had plenty, there were no mental health workers stationed here. As a matter of fact, when the hourly checks were reported to Red Cross HQ, I noticed that only one shelter had a mental health worker stationed.

          Outside in the hallway there were about six tables. On the tables were bottled water, box juices, a coffee urn, wrapped snacks and other foods. With breakfast over, it was about 8AM, I thought it would be a while before the manager wanted to send the lunch request.  At what I thought was early (9AM), the shelter manager instructed me to transmit the lunch request. She told me that Red Cross was VERY slow at filling requests. I was also asked to request additional towels as the clients had taken morning showers and there were none left.  I repeated the same request at 11AM. The other shelters requested their lunches several times. There was no reply to any requests about when they would be delivered. A very bad omen.
            Thankfully, the local businesses, on their own, did supply food and other items to shelters. In our area there was one Chinese restaurant that supplied us with a seemingly endless supply of trays of fried rice and other food. Without their help, our clients would have gone hungry.   I say this because when "lunch" finally did arrive, it was at 5 PM. That made it nine hours between official breakfast and lunch. We were also told it would have to do as SUPPER as well. It consisted of a tray of warm peas, a tray of dried chicken breasts and a tray of pineapples.  I was embarrassed. With all the millions of dollars in funds being donated for this event, all they could manage was this? I found out later that is what every shelter got. Word was relayed to me a few days later that the Health Department admonished the Red Cross for serving food not at the proper temperature. I also found out from a friend who was a radio op at the Red Cross headquarters, that the radio ops and people in Brooklyn Red Cross had "catered" food.
       The towels never did arrive. Neither did some other items that were requested. The volunteers, myself included, were contemplating donating our own money so a volunteer could gather up the old towels and go to a laundromat. The shelter manager decided to wait a while longer. I ended up giving my sets of rubber gloves to the nurses because they were out of their own. As this type of duty can be very boring at times, I also loaned out a deck of cards I had in my go-bag. It helped pass the time for some.

           The Red Cross is required by law to accept anyone who asks for shelter. It was quite obvious that there were several homeless people who sought a place to stay. For one, it meant trouble for us. That night, at about 3AM, one homeless man, who had snuck in some sort of booze and had become drunk, waltzed out of the gym and into the hall brandishing a handgun and announced  "I want to shoot me some Arabs".  Everyone took cover, except the not-so-bright amateur radio operator.  Me.  I Looked at him and said "Wow! I had a gun like that when I was in Vietnam. It might be the same model. Can I take a look at it?"  He, in his state of drunkenness, said "Sure" and handed me the gun. While I was making small-talk with him and pretending to examine the gun, another worker got the police who were still on duty downstairs. They quickly cuffed him, I gave them the gun and it was over. Never had ARES/RACES training in that, but it needed to be done or people would get hurt. As it was, no clients were even aware that it happened. No mention to Red Cross HQ was sent. There was no need to discuss this on the radio because if it got intercepted by the media it might cause a frenzy. It remained an "in house" event. MORAL: SOME THINGS ARE BETTER LEFT UNSAID. REMEMBER THIS AND COMMUNICATE AS THOUGH THE ENTIRE WORLD IS LISTENING.      

             As dawn approached, another call was placed, above and beyond the hourly checks, for breakfast and TOWELS. This was repeated several times and breakfast, in the form of cold scrambled eggs and boxed breakfast cereal came several hours later. Again, no towels. The clients started to complain to the shelter manager about the lack of towels. A bulb lit within my head. I had seen a huge box of bathrobes donated by a hotel. They were made of terry-cloth and I suggested that the clients use them as towels. Problem solved. After breakfast, Red Cross sent over a "relocation" team to help get most people out of the shelter and either placed at hotels or routes to get them home. I must say that these volunteers were very well skilled at doing this. Before you knew it, half of our clients were gone. The rest of the day was uneventful.

        As you know, the Red Cross volunteers stationed at this shelter did 12 hour, or slightly longer, shifts. I had been there, by this time, 32 hours. So much for the 12 hour shift promise. Soon, however, a van came and with it my replacement. I had the police HOLD THE VAN this time, until I could give my replacement the details on the shelter. I then hopped into the van and on the way back to Red Cross headquarters we picked up several other operators from different shelters.        

            When we arrived at Red Cross headquarters, it was like walking into a firestorm of angry radio operators. There was a great deal of shouting and complaining about the support from Red Cross. I didn't need to brief them about my operation at the shelter, it was the same from every operator. Few shelter requests were ever met. It was as if every request went into the "circular file".  Frustration on the faces and out of the tongues of all the operators who were relieved. I eased myself out of the room and got into my car and drove home. I had "done my bit". Twice. There were many questions asked by the amateur radio operators at the briefing and after the event. I think very few, if any, were ever answered. After my own investigation, I know the answers, but I am a professional and will keep them to myself.

         The one thing I will say is that if I had to do it all over again, I would. Exactly as before. I, like many radio operators, do it for the public and not for the "glory" or any "agency, league or organization."

 

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