这是我一个朋友今天发给我的Email, 他是医生,参加了世贸被撞以后的
现场抢救.我读完之后心里很沉重.

"I woke up yesterday not expecting to go to work until
the evening until my roommate, Beau pointed out the
smoke flying over downtown Manhattan from our balcony.
As Beau was telling me that a plane crashed into the
World trade Center, Howard Stern was on his alarm
clock saying,"what, I don't believe it, another plane
hit the world trade center."　I realized right away
that this is not an accident.　I got dressed, chugged
a cup of coffee and ran for the hospital.　Within an
hour our hospital had hundreds of doctors in the ER
with Decontamination showers in the street, organized,
the likes of which I have never seen or expected.　We
saw 170 victims within 2-3 hours and probably could
have handled 500.　Ambulances filled with 6 patients
at a time would drive in.　I was running triage and in
charge of the trauma room.　I must have triaged 50
until I was relieved.　And then the worst thing in the
world that could have happened, happened, it stopped.　
The hospital was overstaffed awaiting mass casualties
and there was nothing but a few scattered police
officers and firemen with smoke inhalation that came
in.　They sent me home to get some rest and to get
ready for the night shift.　I couldn't believe what I
saw when I walked home.　People were all over the
streets except they weren't running in a rush to work,
they were walking slowly, expressionless, aimlessly.　
There were buses parked in the middle of the street
and no cars or cabs in sight.　It was as though a bomb
had just hit.　Some asked me where they could donate
blood and I was happy to direct them and when I saw
the line around the block at Cabrini Hospital, I
realized that there are good people in this world,
something I had almost forgotten in the last few hours
as we were working and the news kept coming in.　

I went home and of course, I couldn't sleep, I came
back to the hospital early.　It was quite.　We sat
outside of the ER entrance and families approached us
wondering if we had treated their mother, father,
brothers and sisters.　We looked through our lists and
the answer seemed to always be the same, I'm sorry, we
didn't see him/her here.　You can see the hurt in
their eyes.　I finally decided to get out there to see
what I can do since I wasn't doing anything back at
work.　

There were blockades, but not for medical personnel or
rescue workers.　What I saw, I hope I never see again.
Downtown manhattan, a clean, beautiful, marble walls,
smooth concrete and shiny black windows was just a
memory.　It looked as though Manhattan was hit by an
atomic bomb.　It seemed like the set from tne movie,
Escape from New York.　There was dirt, mud, smoke and
debris everywhere.　You had to where a mask and an eye
shield with boots just to tolerate the conditions.　
Builings were rubble.　The ones that were standing,
windowns were broken and they were covered with dirt
(the shine was gone).　Cars were crushed, overturned
and some had melted.　There were emergency light beems
set up so that the firemen and rescue personel can
work through the night.　The lobby of Brooks Brothers
was turned into a triage center with paramedics,
gurneys, iv poles, yet there were no patients.　The
exhausted workers were sleeping on the floor.　Some
parts of the World Trade Center was still burning and
some builing were still on fire and unstable.　I was
standing on top of the World Trade Center where
firefighters were trying to rescue a man buried up to
his chest.　They were trying to pry him out.　There
were hundreds of firefighters everywhere among the
debris with flashlights looking for any other sign of
life.　I did not need to climb the building, it was
below me.　There were huge firetrucks that were
crushed from debris and ambulances that had melted.　I
went to Battery Park city, a beautiful residential
area of manhattan, prime location overlooking New
Jersey along the Hudson River.　 The area was
evacuated and desolate.　My friend's building was
there.　I wanted to see if he would be there.　Instead
I saw the National Guard occupying his lobby with
medical supplies and water and food supplies
everywhere.　I decided to walk around to the
waterpromenade to sit down from exhaustion.　When I
turned the corner to come around, I saw empty baby
stroller by the dozens.　You coould just see the
mothers and their horror, grabbing their babies and
running through the streets.　Wintergreen gardens, a
beautiful, indoor atrium with trees indoors and marble
steps where people used to sit, a whole blown through
it with nothing on the other side.　There used to be a
tunnel leading to the world trade center from there.　
Trucks were lined up for miles to take their turn at
carrying away the debris that cranes and caterpillars
were lifting.　Realizing that I wasn't of much use
here, I headed home and looked up at the sky.　For the
first time in my life, I could see all of the stars
clearly in Manhattan.　The buildings weren't blocking
them, the lights weren't obscuring them.　It was dark
enough to see them shine bright.　I couldn't tell you
how I felt to know that I stood where less than 24
hours ago, hundreds of thousands were petrified from
fear, terrorized running through the streets and
thousands lost their lives as debris and buildings
were collapsing around them, while others were still
trapped deep down under the earth among a heap of
twisted metal hoping that they would be rescued before
time runs out."