Lessons learned from the WTC disaster: a first-person account

Sept. 11, 2001, was a day of learning for the world. We learned oceans do not isolate the United States from acts of terrorism. Prior to hijackers flying commercial airplanes into the Pentagon and World Trade Center towers, forensic investigators had never dealt with a mass fatality incident of this magnitude on the mainland soil of the U.S. during non-wartime conditions. During the process of gearing up for the task of locating and identifying the victims, forensic dentists also learned a number of things. Established techniques for disaster management were tested to their extreme limits. Before and while this multi-functional effort was taking place, we familiarized ourselves with what techniques worked best under the immense pressure and tedious nature this job presented. Some of these accepted and now "tried and true" protocols are presented in this article.