Friday, July 17, 1981, I was nearing the end of my Paramedic training at the University of Kansas, school of Allied health. It was a beautiful evening, and our field training consisted of riding with men and women who were there to hold our hands, dry our tears and teach us what advanced life support was really all about.

I was assigned to KARE 43which was stationed in NW Kansas and was home to pranksters, yet professionals. “Reilly. get the booster line for the BBQ in case we have to leave quickly”. I did as I was instructed, not wanting to disappoint, and was promptly knocked on my rear end by a blast of water. All in good fun.

It was dinner time on a hot Kansas summer evening and as is typical in any firehouse across America, hotdogs ,burgers and local culinary specialties were being cooked. I really loved this time in my life. I was soaking up every bit of medical knowledge that I could, yet at the same time developing a bond with folks who had forgotten more than I could ever hope to know.

It was hot, muggy and painfully slow. (these facts are borne from memories and may not be as accurate as one might hope). It seems that around 7:15pm, we got a call for a mutual aid response into Kans City MO. for a building collapse. As we (me being the 4^th on the crew) responded, we got the news that it was the new Hyatt Regency Hotel.

It was chaos in the ambulance with speculation on what was going on. The dispatcher broadcasted that an aircraft hit the building. Other misinformation related that the revolving restaurant at the top of the hotel had failed. This to me seemed preposterous, but I kept my “student” mouth shut. We arrived to a scene of utter chaos. I once wrote of the particular smell of blood and it occurs to me now that this is when I first really, truly noticed it. The stank, smell of iron was everywhere.

Across town was my friend and American hero Jody Gragg. The evening remains fuzzy and confusing, but suffice it to say that my pulse slowed and my comfort level grew when I saw my fellow student and smartest man I know, Jody in and amongst the chaos.

When I entered the atrium at the heels of my preceptors, I almost threw up at horrific scene which lies ahead. Walking into the opening of the atrium, I saw a blond woman’s head. Just her head with blood soaked highlights in her hair. As the walkways failed, glass slid down the railings which held them in place. Her head, with a horrified look was all that remained as the glass, acting like a giant meat cleaver, removed her head from her shoulders. Even now, as my mind grows quiet, I see her head, her face, almost hearing her last screams.

While I was an unwilling and unwitting participant in the events of September 11, 2011 in NYC, I will NEVER write about them. Head first explosions into West Street cannot compare

This event was a failure of one or more architects to do their due diligence. It was a failure of the folks we trust to make our buildings safe.

Bodies without heads, dismembered torsos and architectural failures, are things we sometimes have to deal with. There is a great book “Why Buildings fall Down” that is a must read.

Here is the YouTube video.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&cad=rja&ved=0CFIQtwIwCA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DczmQS81k9eM&ei=7SPgUt2VBPPJsQTRgYGIAw&usg=AFQjCNHnyK12py6fGA_qxqveR9s867ITQg&sig2=6bIxGL1CMnhuMnPRHoD6eQ&bvm=bv.59568121,d.cWc

As an aside, my son Timothy was days old when this happened. I would be a liar if I didn’t say I was distracted and preoccupied upon this dispatch. One cannot let that distraction happen, and for that I ask God’s forgiveness.