![\"A](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/photo1_ny-300x200.jpg\")
Little did they know what they were in for.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were directed by NYPD down the east side of Manhattan until we reached the end of the FDR Expressway at Broadway a little before 6 p.m.,\u201d Centrella says. \u201cAs we turned down Broadway, it was as if someone turned off the lights. We went from a bright evening to total darkness in a moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
“I remember being in awe at the cloud of dust that we saw coming over the bridge into New York City,\u201d Priest recalls.<\/p>\n
Fuller says, \u201cI remember being full of anticipation, anxiety, confusion, feeling a little scared and disorganized.\u201d<\/p>\n
The initial shock of the attack on America and the collapse of the twin towers was still resonating; then came another devastating blow: The grim realization by Fuller and these specially trained paramedics \u2013 men who dedicated their careers to providing lifesaving medical care in the field \u2013 that there were no lives to save. The field was obliterated.<\/p>\n
\u201cStill I can recall with vivid clarity that entire day, from where I was when the first plane hit the tower, to getting the call that we were deploying, to going to my daughter\u2019s school to say goodbye not knowing what the next hours would bring, to the disappointment I felt when we made the decision to return home knowing that our lifesaving services would not be needed,\u201d says retired UConn Health Fire Chief Bill Perkins, then a captain.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess you might call that my lasting memory, the magnitude of the destruction yet the relatively little that could be done to help save lives that had not already been lost,\u201d Priest says.<\/p>\n Tactical paramedics are trained in specialized rescue. They come equipped with the gear and expertise to work in a hazardous environment. Fuller recalls the UConn paramedics extricating a rescue worker from the rubble, and a few responders from other jurisdictions in need of medical attention, but little else in the way of people to care for.<\/p>\n \u201cThe transition from search and rescue to search and recovery happened pretty fast. We were out of our league pretty quickly,\u201d Fuller says. \u201cWe weren\u2019t able to see much news coverage that day, so we had a different experience than most, but we did have that feeling of hopeless and sadness like the whole country felt, like the wind was knocked out of us that we were being attacked.\u201d<\/p>\n Not much more than 24 hours after they arrived, Fuller, Perkins, Priest, Centrella, and the rest of the group \u2013 UConn Health firefighter paramedics John Kowalski, Daryl Byrne, and Ben Sonstrom \u2013 left to give way for recovery personnel.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we made our way through Manhattan to 12th <\/span>Avenue and the upper west side, the streets were eerily empty,\u201d says Centrella, who retired from UConn Health as the chief fire officer in 2004. \u201cAnd then we turned onto 12th <\/span>Avenue and there were thousands of New Yorkers lining the streets, cheering and waving flags and signs thanking responders. I\u2019m pretty sure I haven\u2019t had a lump in my throat like that in my life, before or since.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat also won\u2019t be forgotten is the support that I and we as a team experienced upon our arrival back to UConn Health,\u201d says Perkins, who retired in 2009. \u201cFor most of us it was a little unnerving to be that much in the public eye. For myself, I felt funny being grouped in to the hero\u2019s status. To me the true heroes are listed on a memorial where the towers once stood.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Specially](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/photo2_ny-300x200.jpg\")