KK: Did you help them get in touch with their families?

AK: That was very emotional for me. As I was wrapping up at the end of my shift, we started getting phone calls from family members who hadn’t been able to locate their loved ones. I don’t know if the Amtrak hotline was overwhelmed or if it was operational yet, but we were taking phone calls and would respond, “I’m sorry, no, we don’t have anyone who’s unidentified.”

Dr. Klimke taking a break from rope rescue training with Zeus, a retired search-and-rescue canine.
Photo courtesy of Kurt Braunle

KK: That had to be very emotional, realizing some of the people you’re talking with have loved ones who’ve died but haven’t yet been identified. How did you work though this following the disaster?

AK: I’ve found in the course of my career that coming home and watching the news, whenever something bad has happened, is a double-edged sword. On the one side, you want to understand the total context of what happened. While I was sitting on the couch and seeing the images of the derailment, damage to the cars, the seats, etc., I hit a point where I said, “I have to turn this off, or I’m never going to get sleep.”

I had a lot of people reach out to me, both medical and nonmedical, in my group of friends and family. I got a lot of support from my fiancé and everyone just checking in to see if I was OK. I don’t want to say that I was fine, but it’s definitely one of those things that you process and you learn from.

KK: You, your colleagues, hospital, and EMS system should be commended for a job well done.