New Volunteer Recounts Stories from Ground Zero

This article is one in a series of profiles of American Red Cross volunteers who responded to the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Written by Mason Anderson, Staff Writer, RedCross.org

December 12, 2001 — Two days before the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, Penny Morrison had finally found time to volunteer for the American Red Cross. She had been trained in disaster relief 11 years before. However, soon after completing her courses, she became pregnant. With a family to raise, she could never find time to respond to a disaster. By Sept. 9, 2001, Morrison decided that she again was available to help the Red Cross. Little did she know how soon she would be needed.

On Sept. 11, Morrison watched from her Roanoke, Va., home with the rest of the world as the World Trade Center towers crumbled to the ground. As a licensed practical nurse, Morrison knew she could help. With experience in the emergency room, Morrison was familiar with trauma injuries. She was ready to rush to New York and put her skills to use. But before she could call her local chapter, a Red Cross representative called her.

Two nights a week Morrison attended intensive disaster training programs at the Roanoke Valley Chapter. Within six weeks, her training was renewed and, on Nov. 7, she headed to New York City to assist at Ground Zero.

Morrison's first assignment was with the Red Cross community outreach program, helping those who had been physically disabled by the collapse of the towers.

"I was part of a team of workers, including nurses like me and mental health counselors, who would go to the homes of people who were injured when the towers came down. A lot of people were hurt too badly to leave their homes. They'd been released from hospitals but still couldn't take care of themselves. One woman we went to see had been blinded in one eye when steel flew in it as she tried to escape," said Morrison.

Morrison's team worked throughout parts of the city, treating a wide variety of injuries.

"A lot of people had respiratory problems and eye infections caused by all of the debris that stayed in the air for a really long time. We'd bring them medicine and spend hours at their homes making sure they had everything they needed. There were also a lot of people who were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety attacks. The mental health counselors on our team helped them understand what they were feeling and helped calm their anxiety," Morrison explained.

"Even though I was a trained nurse, I could never have done that without the training I learned at the Red Cross. In the ER, we only look at victims from a medical perspective. At the Red Cross, we are trained to take into account everything victims suffer during a disaster, both physically and mentally."

Five days after arriving in New York on Nov. 12, Morrison was called to assist with a second disaster. Flight 587 had crashed in the Rockaway section of the Queens borough.

Red Cross nurses help treat an injured city

Morrison and a team of mental health counselors rushed to the Ramada Inn near JFK airport where families of passengers had gathered to grieve at the Red Cross Family Assistance Center.

"The plane crash was a lot different than the work I had been doing with the victims of September 11, because the families were just finding out what had happened. There were no physical injuries to help with like there were with the World Trade Center. The families were going through a lot of emotional stress, which is why it was important to have nurses there. We helped treat things like shock and hysteria and monitor blood pressure," Morrison said.

Morrison worked with the victims' families for two days before returning to her community outreach work. After her three-week assignment in New York City ended, Morrison returned home to her family in Virginia. Currently, she is on the roster of volunteers waiting to go back and help.

"I could never have expected that my first assignment with the Red Cross would be something like Sept. 11. I came back from New York a changed person. Watching it on television was awful, but you can't imagine what it was like for the people who were there. Going to New York gave me a better understanding of the devastation — and helping the victims helped me."

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