I'm sure you've read or heard about the blast that occurred in midtown yesterday evening. It was truly unlike anything I've ever seen, save the pictures I saw on TV on 09/11. I was on my way to work yesterday and switched trains at Grand Central Station, evidently right before the explosion happened. When I got off the train, two stops later, people were lined in the middle of the street staring at the sky and I looked up and saw the smoke billowing. It was one of those feelings -- "Oh my God, what's happening?" I rushed to work at Bellevue because we are the closest Trauma Center in the area and I knew the wounded would be taken there.
When I arrived, the hospital was already in disaster-mode. Our ICU was being evacuated to make room for incoming victims, the emergency nurses were outside in haz-mat suits to decon the wounded, and everyone was rushing to prepare for whatever was about to roll in. Most of the victims brought to Bellevue were "treat & release" patients. Fortunately, we only had a couple that were critically injured.
The feeling around the hospital last night was very intense. People were more heightened, more emotional, in crisis mode. The surgeons especially were slammed overnight. We kept the news on all night long, listening for updates or alerts. I did not realize how large the blast was until the pictures started coming in online and one of my patients was describing the scene to me. It was awful. I hesitate to say it, but the whole feeling around the event reminded me of how 09/11 looked.
I go to bed this morning a little on edge, realizing that life is so short and no moment is taken for granted. You just never know.
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