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Article featured in The Delaware
Gazette about Julie Robinson by Alicia Robinson. If anyone could have been prepared for the events of Sept. 11, local funeral director Julie Robinson might have, but she wasn't. "I don't think anything could totally prepare you, ever," she said. Robinson, a former counselor with a masters degree in social work, spent two weeks in New York City as part of a Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team, or DMORT. DMORT is a program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Team members are licensed professionals, such as coroners, forensic anthropologists and mental health specialists who assist local authorities in identifying and preparing bodies, counseling the bereaved and other tasks during or following a disaster. There are 10 DMORT teams in the country, each from a different region, but not all teams were called to assist following the terrorist attacks. Robinson was part of a 39-member team from the Midwest region. She was originally recruited as part of a program to handle airline disasters. Because of her background in social work she was asked to be a counselor when her team was called into action. For Robinson, everything happened quickly on Sept. 11. "I was driving in to work the morning when it happened and heard about the (attacks)," she said. "The minute that I heard about the first plane I knew I would be going. ... By 9 o'clock that night I was on my way out." Robinson flew to New York and stayed for two weeks. She didn't know any of her team members before the trip. Among them were anthropologists, pathologists, DNA experts and dentists. "The most wonderful part of being on that team is you all bond quickly," she said. "You become like family." Because of the sensitive nature of the tragedy, Robinson said she could not say much about where her team went or what they did in New York. "We actively participated in the recovery and identification of victims," she said. While she dealt with the aftermath of the tragedy every day in New York, she was relatively isolated from the media there, she said. "You're immersed in it when you're there. From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. my life revolved around the disaster," she said. "It was certainly a shock to come back. ... I'm still in shock. I think everyone is." The people she did see were grateful for the efforts of recovery workers. "You would just be in your uniform and people ... would thank you," she said. "No one cared where you were from. ... None of that mattered." It will take some time to realize the full emotional impact of the tragedy and her part in it, she said, but her work as a funeral director did help prepare her in some ways. "People ask me a lot why I do this," she said. "I think that there is a certain understanding you have (as a funeral director) about the grief and shock of death and knowing that you can help people." Robinson said she is proud to have been part of the recovery effort and has been asked to return to New York. She hopes the strength and solidarity the tragedy inspired in Americans will have lasting effects, she said. "Right now, initially, the thing that I've taken away most is that we have some really strong, incredible people in our nation," she said. "We're all Americans and we really want to help and we're helping each other." |
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