Melissa Webster

In the following essay, paramedic Melissa Webster describes her reactions when she arrived at the bombed out federal building. She was stunned by the sheer number of injured people she saw, most of whom could not believe what had happened to them. Webster felt guilty when she could not give a small injured toddler the reassurance he craved. Later she treated a woman who was near death. Webster recounts how, if there had been more victims needing immediate attention, the woman would have been allowed to die, but since there were few patients at that particular moment, she was treated and lived. Despite the horrendousness of the disaster, Webster was glad she was there and able to help those who needed it.

Iwas in our management office about six blocks away from the federal building, and I had just sat...