Let us never forget

I was at home when the first plan hit.
I watched in horror as the second plan hit.
Nearly 3000 people died that day, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, aunts, uncles.
Most of them were at work at the time.
415 firefighters, ems, and police died that day in service to others.
When they left for work, their families had every reason to believe all these people would return home.
Except, they didn't.

The protocol in our Trauma 2 level ER had recently changed.
No longer in a mass casualty were we to rush to the hospital.
Studies had shown that when that was done, all the staff was exhausted in less than a day.
Our new instructions were to stay home, stay by the phone, and try to rest.
Rest would not come easy.
Through TV, we were experiencing something most of us had never lived through.
Not since Pearl Harbor, had our country come under attack.

Our hospital is 115 miles from New York City.
I was sure we would get some of the casualties, or at least some of the diversions that would be needed as the big hospitals in southwest and central Connecticut became overwhelmed.
But the call never came.
The casualties never came.

Because very few survived.

Please don't ever complain to me about the state of your workplace, your community, your state or your nation, without also being willing to work to improve things.
People have given their lives, sometimes unexpected as on 9/11, sometimes knowing they were facing danger as in all our wars.  They gave their lives so that we could have the right to improve our work sites, our communities, our states, our nations, and our world.
I know it can seem overwhelming, I know it can be frustratingly slow, I know it can seem hopeless.
I also know that I must try.
I implore you to do the same, if not for yourself, then for those who have given their lives.

Let us never forget.