AMSUS Heroes: Revisiting the 9-11 Disaster

Military Medicine,  Spring 2004  

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CFf Rodney P. Leibowitz, DC, ARNG was an active officer of the National Disaster Medical Service (NDMS or D-Mort Team) at the time of the 9-11 disaster in September 2001. NDMS was a part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, and is now part of the new US Department of Homeland Security. Dr. Leibowitz grabbed an armful of medical supplies, including protective face-masks, gauze and gloves from his dental office on that morning, after hearing about the first plane hitting the Tower on the television in his office's examining room. Upon arrival on-scene, he handed out the supplies he brought, and looked for people needing help. Finding few, he knew that he would be needed to help with the recovery efforts in other areas. He then reported to the NYPD Command Center, and was asked to return to Ground Zero and help set up morgues at the Battery Park ferries. He stayed at the Ferries for over three hours, and left after it became clear that there would be no bodies needing identification at that time. He returned home and began work on finding much needed medical supplies, including respirators for rescue workers. After personally signing for the equipment, Captain Leibowitz worked with other first responders and law enforcement agents to transport the items directly to the site. Soon, the convoy was distributing a constant supply of respirators and filters to relief workers for days after the disaster.

According to Leibowitz, "For almost 14 months, the burden of what I experienced remained constant in my life. I continued to experience terrible bouts of helplessness and absolute anger from what had occurred. Today I feel more empowered in dealing with the situation I lived through, but I will never forget the horror of that day."

Copyright Association of Military Surgeons of the United States Spring 2004
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