WTOP/Kate Ryan
WTOP/Kate Ryan
WTOP/Kate Ryan
For Eric Brown, Michele Shields and Sylvia Nazario, all of whom work at the Office of Unified Communications in D.C., the workday began at 6 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001.
Brown, a lead dispatcher who was working on the DC Fire and EMS side that day, recalled his supervisor getting a call and announcing that a plane had struck the twin towers at the World Trade Center in New York City.
Then another call came in, with news that a plane could be headed for the White House.
Shields, a dispatcher for D.C. Police, remembers a co-worker rushing in from a break to say that a plane had hit the Pentagon. Shields recalled thinking: “‘You can’t be serious. Not here in Washington, D.C.’ It was just unbelievable.”
But someone turned on a television, “and we all looked at each other” and suddenly it was real, Shields said. “And we just all went into action.”
But the news didn’t reach everyone at the same time. Nazario, another police dispatcher, was tasked with contacting agencies in the region.
She found herself having to convince first responders at other agencies that the call about the plane crash at the Pentagon was real. “And they hang up the phone!” she said. “I had to call them back and say, ‘This is not a prank.'”
For Shields, the calls were personal.
Her brother worked at the Pentagon. She wouldn’t be able to contact him until late in the day. Twenty years later, she said it’s still emotional when she talks about finally hearing from him.
“He worked in the basement,” she said. “He said that when the plane struck, they didn’t know what it was.” Her brother told her that the door of the room they were in was blown from its hinges. “And everything shook.”
Brown, Shields and Nazario all worked a minimum of 12 hours that day.
Like Shields, Nazario had family she was concerned about. She’s originally from New York City, where her mother and other family lived. “When I got home and I called my mom,” she told her everyone was OK.
Brown said that when he got home, he remained glued to the television, watching the nonstop coverage. “And I just sat down and I thought, ‘Man, I gotta go back tomorrow. I hope everyone’s OK.'”
Nazario, Brown and Shields take great pride in juggling the calls for help, remaining calm and coordinating emergency responses in the District.
But Shields said that after 30 years on the job, she can feel the cumulative weight of those distress calls. Putting feelings aside on the job is routine, but the emotions don’t just disappear.
“They’re in there,” she said, pointing to her head. “You know, I suppress them, I put them back, but they’re starting to come up…. Every now and again, something will trigger it.”
That’s why Shields said that after years of resisting getting help, she’s now receiving counseling — something she recommends. “As you get older you get wiser,” she said with a smile.
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