Special Report:
Chiropractic Relief Effort: ‘Adjusting From Our Hearts’
By Tracey Blair
Dr. Glenn Scarpelli was in his Manhattan chiropractic office the morning of Sept. 11 when a woman came running up screaming, “A plane hit the World Trade Center!” Scarpelli assumed there had been some type of horrible accident involving a small private plane.
But minutes later, he heard about a second plane crashing nearby, and he knew this was far from an accident.
From that point on, everything changed.
Like so many other chiropractors in the area and across the country, Scarpelli felt compelled to do something. So he decided to take literally the chiropractic philosophy about changing the world one adjustment at a time.
Scarpelli, a member of the New York Chiropractic Council (NYCC), was in one of the first Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-authorized chiropractic groups to offer adjustments to weary firefighters, police officers, military personnel, and others who are assisting in the recovery efforts from the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.
Almost immediately, numerous chiropractors began joining the cause - as individuals, and through efforts by national, state and regional associations. At press time, various associations reported that at least 500 doctors had volunteered to help treat workers assisting with recovery efforts in both New York and Washington, D.C.
Dr. Richard Platt, vice president of the New York State Chiropractic Association (NYSCA) district that covers Manhattan, had just moved into his new apartment two blocks from the World Trade Center less than a month ago. He and his fiancee frantically evacuated from the building minutes after disaster struck. Their apartment building is now off-limits, and Platt said it may be months until he and his fiancee can retrieve whatever personal possessions may be salvageable.
Despite his personal losses, Platt has been standing side-by-side with other doctors providing chiropractic care for rescue and recovery workers. “It’s been kind of like my own therapy... I’ve been consumed,” he said.
At the Disaster Sites At “Ground Zero” in New York, most chiropractors applied for their credentials at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center (one of the headquarters for the relief efforts), and they provided chiropractic care at the center, at a local high school, or in several other areas in or near the area of the disaster.
“There are a lot of tents set up at Ground Zero - some for sleeping quarters, some for showers, and others for chiropractic and massage therapy,” said Dr. Andrew Lacerenza, president of the NYSCA district that covers Suffolk County (Long Island), N.Y.
There are also supply tents, where protective equipment such as respirators and hard hats are made available to
volunteers - including chiropractors - in critical areas, Platt said.
There’s also been a strong chiropractic presence near the site of the Pentagon attack in Washington, D.C., but it took a little bit longer for chiropractors to become established there because of security requirements even more stringent than those at Ground Zero.
On Sept. 18, a number of chiropractors, primarily from the Virginia and Maryland areas, went out to the Pentagon site and set up a tent near the rescue workers. The following day, they started doing adjustments, according to Ron Hendrickson, executive director of the International Chiropractors Association (ICA). The doctors, who work in shifts of at least six at a time, must get security clearance by federal officials at the Pentagon in addition to the routine verification of their licensure and identity.
Hendrickson said an ongoing effort by chiropractors will be needed in both New York and Washington in the weeks and months to come.
Hands-On Healing
Brooklyn chiropractor Dr. Tom Musto said he’s been moved by the heroism of the rescue workers who are working tirelessly in the almost incomprehensible recovery efforts at Ground Zero. Musto went right to the scene at 1 Liberty Plaza the morning after the tragedy.
“I told the police officer I was a chiropractor and wanted to adjust the emergency workers, and he let me through right next to where they were working,” Musto said. At one point, however, people started to fear the building’s structural damage was going to cause it to fall. “I ran out of that building like everybody else,” he said. “I left my portable table there and dropped my cell phone, but none of that mattered.”
Musto added: “It was like being in a war zone. It’s surreal. Unbelievable. Like walking through a post-apocalyptic land.”
Luckily, 1 Liberty Plaza is still standing. But Musto now helps by visiting local firehouses in Brooklyn nearly every day and doing adjustments there. “I figure I could be just as effective there,” Musto said. “They offer me a meal or a cup of coffee and are very appreciative.”
Scarpelli said chiropractic care is taking place in the purest sense at Ground Zero. “There’s no expensive equipment,” he said. “We’re using just our hands and adjusting people from our hearts. People are lying down, we’re adjusting them, and they’re getting up with a smile. It’s about allowing someone’s body to perform at its optimum level. People are thrilled we’re there.”
Dr. A. Alexander Pireno, president of the Chiropractic Federation of New York (State), said some of the federation’s volunteers have found themselves doing more than just providing chiropractic care. “They’re not only giving adjustments; some of them have even found themselves just listening to families of the victims who need to talk,” he said.
Volunteering at Ground Zero can be an emotionally and mentally draining experience, but it’s mostly rewarding. “You could feel the energy. You could feel the death in the air,” Scarpelli said. “But everyone is so nice. It’s very touching.”
Making a Difference
Lacerenza said the chiropractic effort is making a visible difference. “The workers are under quite an emotional and physical overload that we can’t even imagine,” he said. “They are able to get some kind of relief and help from the chiropractors who are there helping them. Even the laying-on of hands can have a dramatic effect during a time like this.”
Many doctors who have practices in areas where some of the rescue/recovery workers live have also volunteered to give adjustments to them free of charge at their clinics, Lacerenza said. Some of the rescue workers are so exhausted after their shifts, they just want to go home, he explained.
The outpouring of support from the chiropractic community has been incredible, said Dr. Ellen Coyne, who chairs the board of the NYCC.
“We’ve got a lot of chiropractors at Ground Zero - they’re all over the place,” Coyne said. “We’re getting phone calls from all over the country. People have called from Alaska, California, Louisiana and Tennessee. A lot of people have been out giving thousands of adjustments, and the people are really appreciating the chiropractic relief.”
New York State law allows licensed professionals from other states to provide their services during a time of emergency. However, Dr. Bob De Bonis, a Manhattan chiropractor and member of the New York State Board for Chiropractic, said that while everyone is impressed with the chiropractic community’s volunteer efforts, out-of-state doctors should make sure their services are needed before trekking to the disaster sites. He recommended contacting the national, state and/or local associations helping organize the volunteer efforts for more information.
On a National Level
Chiropractors across the country are doing whatever they can on an individual level - giving a portion of their collections to the American Red Cross or other disaster relief funds, encouraging patients to donate, and more. National, state and regional associations are encouraging doctors to put out shoeboxes covered in white paper with a “red cross” on them, or even fishbowls, so patients can drop in checks made out to the Red Cross.
Dr. Larry Maddalena of Ventura, Calif., is just one of thousands of doctors who did something on a grass-roots level. He sponsored an effort that was prompted by a suggestion from a patient. “A patient came in and started the idea of donating 10% of a day’s or week’s take-home pay to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, so we donated 10% of the total collections on Friday, Sept. 14,” Maddalena said.
Companies associated with chiropractic are also opening their hearts and wallets in the nation’s time of need. Foot Levelers, Inc., of Roanoke, Va., set up a matching donation campaign for the American Red Cross. Every
dollar donated through Foot Levelers was matched penny for penny (up to $200,000) through October 1.
Professional chiropractic associations are also doing their part. The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) is
helping those victimized by terrorism by campaigning to get members to donate blood or money to the Red Cross. In addition, ACA forwarded all collections to Foot Levelers, which agreed to include those donations in its Red Cross matching program. Meanwhile, the ICA established and certified the ICA Disaster Relief Fund to collect donations for emergency relief. Countless regional and local associations and individual doctors across the country also dug deep into their pocket to give to the cause.
Like the coming together of the American people in general, the tragic events of Sept. 11 have unified the chiropractic profession like no other event in history. Scarpelli explained: “The underlying will we have in our profession to serve has organized this.” |
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