Airman tells of medical response to Pentagon attack

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • 319th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. (AFPN) --  When terrorists attacked the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, the ops tempo at nearby Andrews Air Force Base, Md., hit a feverish pitch, said an Airman who was there.

At that time, Senior Airman Andrea Taylor, a 319th Aeromedical-Dental Squadron bioenvironmental engineering journeyman, was working with a bioenvironmental team in the 89th Aerospace Medical and Dental Squadron at Andrews. She said in the office, they did not have access to radio or television, so when they heard about planes crashing into the World Trade Center, they did not believe it.

“We thought it was simply rumors,” Airman Taylor said.

After the plane crashed into the Pentagon, Airman Taylor said they evacuated their building, except for her office. They were told they should not expect to leave anytime soon.

Airman Taylor said it was impossible to make any phone calls, either by cell phone or land line.

“All circuits were busy,” she said. “It was a very helpless feeling, especially not knowing if the base was also an additional target. With the president, vice president and other dignitaries constantly flying in and out of that base, it was a realistic threat.”

When Airman Taylor and her co-workers finally got access to a television, she said, that was when the intensity and threat of the situation really sunk in for everyone.

“There was a lot of anxiety in the office because no one could contact their families to let them know that we were safe,” Airman Taylor said.

At about 5 p.m., Environmental Protection Agency officials asked Airman Taylor’s team to help in monitor the air quality inside the Pentagon.

Even though the building was hit, people were scheduled to return to work as usual the next day.

For a building that has miles of corridors and covers many acres of offices and floors, Airman Taylor said her team had their work cut out for them.

“I will never forget the first time I laid eyes on the crash site at the Pentagon,” Airman Taylor said. “In a way, it’s difficult to apply words to the magnitude of the shock value. I think the most complicated part was trying to comprehend that an actual aircraft had for the most part disappeared into the building, but left a huge gaping hole, and took hundreds of innocent unsuspecting lives.”

She said the Pentagon is so huge that any pictures people may have seen do not do it justice.

“There (are) 17 miles of corridors throughout the building,” Airman Taylor said. “Then there is the inside-out perspective we had while in the building when we got there on the evening of Sept. 11. There was (a) quarter-inch of black soot from the floor to the ceiling in many of the corridors, and all electricity was out, which gave it an even more morbid, sullen feeling. A lot of times, we found ourselves making our way around (with) a flashlight.”

Airman Taylor said her team’s initial job was to set up air sampling pumps along the areas closest to the crash site inside the building. Those pumps were there to ensure minimal release of asbestos.

“When (plastics) burn, they often release combustion biproducts known as hydrocarbons,” Airman Taylor said. “These are harmful for human inhalation. We had four direct reading instruments that we had to constantly monitor (at) predetermined locations and designated areas for proper oxygen, carbon dioxide, lack of carbon monoxide and other hazardous atmospheric changes in air quality.”

After working well into the next day, Airman Taylor said her team was relieved by another crew, but after a short rest, they were called up to do more work.

“We were then tasked with providing direct support to an Army search and rescue team, who were looking for survivors and remains,” Airman Taylor said. “This by far was the most sobering portion of my experience there. We applied individual air sampling pumps to approximately 10 rescue team members at a time before they were to enter the crumbled, unstable, crash site.”

It was obvious that most of the jet fuel from the crashed plane had burned off, but portions of the site were actually still on fire, she said.

“Those Army troops were in respirators and full, head-to-toe protective equipment,” Airman Taylor said. “Our pumps were extra precautionary measures to ensure ... their minimal exposure to airborne hazards. Every time they would enter, I remember saying a silent prayer in hopes they were able to find another survivor.

“However, when they would return with personal items like purses, pictures, shoes and keys,” she said, “it was a drastic reminder of how precious life really is. It was very humbling in the most devastating sort of way.”