Pentagon Workers Find Relief at Camp Unity
By Pattie Stechschulte

When American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the west side of the Pentagon, local chiropractors were shocked, frightened and angry, like everyone else in the Washington, D.C., area and around the world.

"Our building is just a couple of few miles from the Pentagon, so some of us ran up to the roof which has a garden area. We saw the smoke pouring out into the skyline beyond us," said Coralee Van Egmond, D.C., professional development director at the International Chiropractors Association. "It made it that much more real. It was very, very specifically personal."

Van Egmond’s brother works at the Pentagon. "Many of us have friends and family who are affiliated with or work at the Pentagon. I rushed to the phone, but it turned out that he was not at work that morning," she said.

After the initial shock wore off, chiropractors snapped into action calling local, state and federal agencies to offer their services to help care for the workers at the Pentagon site.

Finding a Way to Help

Within days, ICA director Ron Hendrickson, D.C., Maryland chiropractor Don Hirsch, D.C., and Dr. Van Egmond, formed a task force to find a way to get chiropractic included in the relief services.

"The challenge that we had with the Pentagon was to work through the channels that we would need to in a manner that would open doors," said Van Egmond. "An added element was that we were dealing with federal property, highly classified documents and high security concerns, so we needed to proceed with diplomacy."

"Right after the event, we said we have got to get down there because these people are probably hurting and could really use an adjustment.  We were making call after call just running into a brick wall," said Dr. Hirsch. "When we realized there was a chance we were going to get in there. Coralee and I spent probably three or four hours on the phone – clearing everything with the state boards and malpractice companies. Then we wrote some clinical guidelines on how we would function in this kind of atmosphere in a tent."

After talking with officials at the Councils of Governments, they made arrangements that chiropractors would be stationed in the Public Safety Chaplains tent, next to the American Red Cross and food tents.

"We load up my wife's van with equipment from the ICA headquarters, everything you would need to run an office. We showed up at the site, not knowing whether or not we would even get in," said Hirsch.

"Ron, Don and I were escorted in through a series of police and military check points to the chain link enclosure set up in the parking lot which became Camp Unity.  We proceeded to set up our tables in this tent that was providing rest and relaxation for the workers," described Van Egmond.

At that point, the three chiropractic volunteers received high-level credentials from the FBI and CIA allowing them access to the area. One of them had to be on site to oversee the other chiropractors and they had to escort other chiropractors to the tent once they arrived to volunteer.

"Then, we began to schedule the volunteers because back at the office the phones had been ringing off the hook with an outpouring of offers to help from people as far away as Canada," said Van Egmond.

Comforting the Troops

Located within the tent village of Camp Unity, chiropractors began offering round the clock chiropractic care to all the workers and agents involved in the relief efforts.  The camp was located several hundred yards from the crash site, just beyond the secured inner zone where the majority of the crime scene investigators were working.

Besides the adjusting tables, the tent had over 20 chairs set up like a waiting room then there were six cots in the back.  They posted signs around the area that read "Welcome, relief support services, quiet resting area, chiropractic care, message therapy, wellness care, emotional support, spiritual setting."  It is estimated that 31 volunteer chiropractors provided care for over 3,000 during the ten days at Camp Unity.

"We ended up being on site virtually around the clock, and I was doing the swing shift coverage sometimes until 3:30 in the morning. Then we would get up at 6 or 7 in the morning to bring drive people in from the ICA offices for the morning shift," said Van Egmond.

"We took care of thousands of military, law enforcement (police, sheriff and state troopers), the rescue workers, support personnel, even the people washing down the walls. We took care of everybody from generals to Salvation Army and Red Cross personnel from around the country. The Red Cross workers were delighted to get care, and the Red Cross nurses were sending us people. When you are on the ground there doing the work, there were no boundaries."

Most of the troops were sifting through the rubble where some areas were still smoldering from the jet fuel looking for personal effects and bodies.  They would work 12-hour shift then have a 12 hour downtime in the tent outside this zone sleeping on the ground or on pieces of plywood.

"Many of these folks were only 18, 19, 20 or 21 year olds and they were finding charred feet or a finger. It was an extremely intense situation, they were not just looking for paperwork or computer disks," said Van Egmond. "We were providing a wellness, whole person haven where these people were being rejuvenated; we were providing the opportunity for some solace and energy."

"We had really found that people were grim, withdrawn and exhausted, and these people would come off the table smiling and feeling open enough to give and receive a hug. Being able to receive some hands-on care was just phenomenal," said Van Egmond.

"When they would come out of the hole, which they called the hell hole, the soldiers had this sort of dull look in their eyes. They were just selflessly serving, no complaints, they might have complained how they were physically feeling, but they didn't complain about the situation they were in. Some of these kids were 19 years old; they were old enough to be my kid. The officers had a different look; they had a look of pained responsibility in their eyes. It was just unusual," said Dr. Hirsch.

"You had to remember that it was a crime scene and it was a facility that could be under subsequent attack, so that was certainly was in peoples mind when you were bending over a patient and you would hear a chopper going overhead. One of my patients even saw snipers on buildings across the expressway," said Van Egmond. "We had U.S. Marshals patrolling on ATVs that were loaded with machine guns and scopes.  You have a lot of rescue workers and security personnel who are to getting on the table to get adjusted and they are laying a rifle or machine gun underneath the table to receive care. You don't usually get in your suburban office.  It was a very, very distinct image."

"I certainly have never seen a real life machine gun before, that was a first. The U.S. Marshals would come and would have to have another soldier hold of the gear while they were adjusted. Some of them wouldn’t take their guns off, so they still had their leg harness on with their guns. It was interesting," said Stephanie Schooley, D.C., from Laurel, Maryland.

"We learned that you can adjust people with full body amour holding machine guns without them having to remove their bullet proof vest. You can do a thoracic adjustment perfectly through a bullet proof vest and we proved it," said Hirsch.

Making a Difference

"When we were attacked I felt just like everybody else, sad, upset, angry, hurt and confused.  I wanted to do something meaningful. Giving blood and donating money is important, but I felt there was something more that I could do," said Lisa Hepfer, D.C., from Wheaton, Maryland. "When I was asked to go down to the site, I jumped for the opportunity.  I didn’t know what to expect, but once I got there, I realized how important it was for me to be there. These people desperately needed not only a healing touch but a positive touch because they were surrounded with so much horror and negativity. I definitely think I made a difference."

"I was down there on a rainy Thursday and I probably took care of 60 soldiers; they were pretty much emotionally warped and exhausted.  They were pretty excited to come in not knowing anything about chiropractic necessarily," said Mimi McLaughlin, D.C., a Walkersville, Maryland chiropractor.

"A lot of them had never experienced chiropractic before so this was their first enlightenment towards chiropractic," said Dr. Schooley.  "They were all so relieved not only from the perspective of receiving the adjustment – which was very powerful for a lot of people – but just to be in a place to shed all the garbage that they picking up, the emotional baggage that they had been collecting, to have an outlet for that."

"The workers were most appreciative. We got so many thank yous and I know we helped those people because they were suffering," said Dr. Brad Johnson, who drove four hours from Norfolk to work shifts on consecutive days. "We saw it in our practice, people were stressed out just because of the situation, but those people have the physical stress of having to work 12 hour shifts ­ 12 on, 12 off."

"I was agitating this one guy who said that chiropractic couldn’t help him – he was 6’4" maybe 240. After about 15 minutes, he decided to try it. So we got him adjusted and he sat up and said that his head was clear. He had sinus problems forever and immediately felt better than he had in years," said McLaughlin.

"One guy even called his chiropractor because he had had a series of surgeries and had a very complicated case and had the chiropractors talk to each other about his case history. Other people were totally new to chiropractic and were so thrilled with their initial experiences that they would come back for follow-up care," said Van Egmond.

"I am kind of outspoken so I stood out in front of the tent encouraging people to come in. They would thank us for being there and tell us, 'I feel so much better, I feel much more alive.' People would share their stories, how long they have been there and how long they had been working," said McLaughlin.

"One day I got there about 7:15 in the morning to find an FBI agent lying there paralyzed with a migraine. The sound of his own voice was killing him. He was scared to get adjusted because he was in so much pain, but he agreed to let me adjust him.  I did a very gentle, specific adjustment of his atlas and he got up a few minutes later to lay down on one of the cots," said Dr. Hirsch.

The agent sat up about ten minutes later; feeling much better, announced that he was going back to work. "As he was getting all his gear back on, he told me that he only had a few hours of sleep in the last week. An hour after the bombing, he was on a plane to New York, then here for four days.  I offered to talk to his superior officer, because he still looked a little groggy. Then he told me, ‘I am the commanding officer, so there is nobody to talk to.’ Apparently he was one of the top agents at the site. About an hour or two later he stopped by the tent to tell me how wonderful he felt and that his migraine was all gone," said Hirsch.

Another day, Hirsch happened to meet a high-ranking medical official at the Pentagon who talked with him about chiropractic and observed some soldiers being adjusted.

"After four soldiers had just received their adjustments, he was listening to them, so I asked the soldiers how they were feeling.  They said they felt terrific and that it was so great that we were there and how much they appreciated it. Each one of them testified to this guy. He said that we had to do a report and a presentation, so we exchanged names and numbers," said Hirsch.

      "He said that they have talked about having chiropractors in the military internally, but it never dawned on them that we needed to be on the front lines. We have been in contact since then and he has been talking to other generals about maybe forming a chiropractic commission.  We certainly made quite a big impression on the brass."

Breaking Down

As work was completed at the crash site, Camp Unity was official closed down on September 28 after a closing meeting headed by Brigadier General Robert Smolen of the U.S. Air Force.

"He addressed the gathering of relief workers, thanking them and presented commemorative posters with the Camp Unity symbol on it which was the Pentagon nestled in a pair of hands," said Van Egmond. "Everyone came with a strong spirit of service to provide chiropractic care to people at a time of need. So when people were thanking us, we were thanking them to be able to provide some sort of active support, to be able to serve and assist."

"The reason I went down is because I realized that there were so many people that needed our help.  I have been part of the Panama mission, so after being in that situation you just realize how hungry people are for chiropractic especially in such a tragedy," said Dr. McLaughlin.

"It was very inspiring, very humbling," said Dr. Robinson. "I felt it was the least I could do because God has given me a gift as a chiropractor and the people needed what we had to offer. I was just honored to be able to part of that."

"That day changed my life. I think it was probably one of the most important days of my life ever," said Hepfer.

"It made me feel good, it was healing for me as well as it was healing for the people that I saw that day because I needed to do something.  I felt like finally I was able to touch some lives and really make a difference after the tragedy that had happen."

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