‘Code one’ disaster

A hospital security manager who lives in Bordentown City had to deal with the Sept. 11 crisis.

By:Vanessa S. Holt
   BORDENTOWN CITY — Donnell Cole can recall only a few occasions in which the hospitals where he works experienced a "code one" disaster.
   It happened after the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, and it happened on Sept. 11 after terrorist attacks brought the Twin Towers to the ground.
   Mr. Cole, a city resident, works as security manager at Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City and the Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus, both part of Liberty HealthCare System Inc., where he oversees a staff of 150 people.
   He watched from a hospital window as the second plane hit the Twin Towers on the morning of Sept. 11.
   "It seemed like a bad dream," said Mr. Cole. "After we saw the second plane ram into the building, we couldn’t believe it. Everybody got numb."
   The hospitals hold internal and external disaster drills every year, but everyone knew this was not a test, said Mr. Cole. Evidence of the scope of the disaster was visible from hospital windows and on every television screen.
   "A lot of people were glued to the TV or the window; a lot of people were scared," he said.
   The two hospitals played a key role in the first few hours of the crisis, calling in additional personnel and setting up staging areas at arenas and parking lots in the area.
   Many of the patients were injured rescue workers who were among the first to respond to the scene in New York.
   During a "code one" external disaster, additional doctors are called in while extra beds, equipment and "disaster carts" stocked with first aid medicines are put on standby.
   Mr. Cole oversees crowd control, handling visitors and relatives and coordinating triage units.
   During the first day of the disaster, Mr. Cole and many other employees stayed at the hospitals for more than 24 hours.
   Many people could not leave northern New Jersey because of road closures and congestion.
   "It was kind of chaotic," he said. "A lot of visitors couldn’t get anywhere. Some patients who were discharged had to stay in hotels."
   Security measures instituted at the facilities after the attacks included closing all but one entrance to the hospitals, conducting thorough bag and ID checks and prohibiting vehicles from parking close to the buildings.
   Mr. Cole also attended an FBI class concerning terrorism and security last week and expects that hospital security will be stepped up for quite some time.
   The hospitals now limit the number of visitors a patient can have and check all bags that people bring into the facilities. Employees must have identification with them at all times and delivery vehicles can not park on ramps near hospital entrances.
   He has not visited the site yet, but sees a blank space in the New York City skyline every day. A few tendrils of smoke still drifted from the ruins last week.
   "It’s not the same," said Mr. Cole. "You’re used to seeing the towers, now you see nothing. It’s totally different."
   He said he feels encouraged to see the number of people who have given blood and volunteered time and money to recovery efforts to assist the victims and their families.
   "It was amazing to see how many people came in to donate blood; we had to turn people away or send them to other hospitals."
   Mr. Cole, 31, grew up in Bordentown City and recently bought his parents’ house on East Burlington Street. He served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps and said he would go back if he was called in light of recent events.
   "Everyone who is an American is a target," he said. "We’re all going to be uneasy for the next month."