A Family of Hands

“After the Oklahoma City bombing, volunteer therapists gave massages to exhausted rescue workers, numbed survivors and overworked pathologists. The state medical examiner observed that the massage therapists were “accomplishing more in 15 minutes than psychologists could in an hour or two” (Life, Aug. 8, 1997). 

The Oklahoma City Bombing was a tremendous tragedy. It was not the first time, nor the last time that Massage Therapists responded to an emergency. The Massage Emergency Response Team (MERT) was still in its infancy. We were all doing our best in the moment and it was working. We had a huge (remember this was 1995) cell phone and a huge fax machine set up, so we could communicate with people. These were donated and just showed up, and hooked up for us. The AMTA was of course at the forefront, they had already had the experience of the San Francisco Earthquake in 1989 and they had created the MERT teams during and after that. All the massage organizations helped out getting volunteers. No one was allowed to volunteer in the Massage area at the Myriad building that didn’t have education and malpractice insurance verified.

The fact that the Oklahoma Restaurant Association was having their annual event at the Myriad Center was an amazing and fortuitous coincidence. They turned their huge event into a bigger deal by redoing the whole convention center floor and using it to serve food to all the volunteers. We are forever grateful for their generosity.

I have a huge amount of gratitude and appreciation for the graduates of Massage Therapy Institute of Oklahoma that showed up to help immediately. We had one class within weeks of graduation that voted to cease classes until this was over. They would wait and volunteer if possible. None of them needed to or counted any of their volunteer time as clinical hours. They were constantly supervised by myself or another instructor while they were present.

Many Massage Therapists came together and worked together. In spite of differences, and in face of challenges, from April 21st through May 6th, 1995, over 100 Massage Therapists from 9 states worked together to keep a Massage Therapy area open inside the Myriad Center; 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide massage therapy to other volunteers. The AMTA Oklahoma Chapter members, in spite of their own grief, volunteered. These people were and still are incredible! All of them knew someone – a family member, client or friend that had been injured or worse in the bombing. They showed up and went the extra mile. They took chair massage to the Medical Examiners, the families at the church, and worked some shifts in the Myriad with the rest of us.

At first they showed us to a 16 x 16 booth space in the middle of the food and everything. While we loaded all our supplies in, I informed the Red Cross and FEMA we could use more space. They moved us immediately to a much larger space, and a much more secure location. We had a large relaxation/reception area, as well as plenty of room for 24 massage tables. We had an area for Shiatsu, chair massage, another area set up for the rescue dogs. They allowed us to use a large green room with bathroom and shower that was used for celebrities (when they had concerts there) to get away, hygeinate and sleep.There was even enough space for the huge hot tub that arrived and was set up within hours of the request from the Florida Rescue Team.

The first 36 hours were a whirlwind. I had just participated and supported my instructor Barry Green in his World Record for Massage at The High Touch Tour, so this was not a mistake. During this time we had all but emptied my school, Massage Therapy Institute of Oklahoma, for supplies and yet we were beginning to run short on things. The first few days around 4am we created our own recon team went throughout the Myriad Center to locate and request or purchase more hand sanitizer, paper towels, etc.

By the fourth day, supplies were just showing up and being delivered to us. I do not know how many churches were involved but, there was an enormous effort that I want to acknowledge. All the Rescue Teams were housed just down the hall from us in rooms with cots. These cots had comfy padding, clean sheets, pillows, blankets and hand made quilts every single day.

Every evening, huge amounts of clean sheets arrived for us. While we brought some sheets with us and had a nice starting amount of disposables, they gathered many more donated from the community. They washed them, carefully folded them and had them delivered back to us. Many of them would have little notes tucked in them – notes thanking us – notes appreciating and acknowledging the sacred work we were doing. These notes were all turned over to The Oklahoma Historical Society, so they would not be forgotten. One evening a local attorney delivered them saying, “Wow, if you say you are bringing something to the Massage Therapists, they just let you go anywhere in here!”

Emergency Response Massage has changed a lot over the years. It is more organized with much better resources. No one really seems to do anything more than short chair massage now though. It has been said this is much safer and easier, not just for the volunteers but, the participants. This is progress and it is okay. It is just quite interesting to note the changes. Please note we had no problems. No actual safety issues occurred during this time. No one was getting undressed completely. It was all good. It was beyond good. It was amazing.

Other things arrived too – no request was too small or too large. Please note; the hot tub held 12 adults, and we had a guy that came in twice a day to check the water and keep it all clean and sanitary. Large retailers heard about the hot tub and sent cases of swimsuits. Thank Goodness! Massage product companies sent generous amounts of supplies, and a  couple of massage tables and chairs arrived too. Several times we were surprised by fresh flowers, pizza, and chocolate sent by anonymous people.

I personally felt like I was surrounded by family. My sister Gayle was there (as much as she could be) and when she wasn’t she was helping hold down the office and school in Tulsa. My uncle worked at the Murrah Federal Building. He had left his office to take a bagel and coffee to his daughter, my cousin who worked at Southwestern  Bell. My uncle was unharmed, but my cousin was treated and released for some minor injuries. His office was completely gone so we know how close it came. I have cousins who were RNs that were working overtime at the hospital. They worked overtime, Not sure when they made it home. My cousins in the National Guard were busy, and more cousins were volunteering at the church and in the Myriad cooking and serving food. Having Massage Therapists I knew and have never met before show up from other states was more than icing on the cake.

We were busy around the clock. The rescue teams were working 12 hour shifts. It should be no surprise that I was quite relieved when the AMTA National Leadership showed up to help. Virginia Anthony was the National AMTA President at the time, and she had previously served as the Oklahoma Chapter President so this was close to her heart. Dan Barrow accompanied her, and they handled the press, brought MERT information, supplies and even pitched in and pulled some chair massage shifts with the Oklahoma Chapter, and did massages just like everyone else.

There are more stories than we could ever print. Rescue Teams, FEMA Workers, National Guard, Chaplains, and even rescue dogs enjoyed visiting the massage area. A few Physical Therapists and Chiropractors joined in, working in harmony as never had been seen before in Oklahoma.

There were also a number of Massage Therapists that had an area somewhere else working with a local Oklahoma City massage school. It was no surprise that without any social media, very little email, (most of us only had dial up access!), that it was challenging, and some therapists ended up at a different place than they thought they were going or didn’t get connected at all.

Massage Therapy has been present at so many disasters since the San Francisco Earthquake,  9-11, Katrina, Forest Fires, The Joplin Tornadoes, Hurricane Sandy and even Mudslides. This last year, 2014, the American Massage Therapy Association announced a national partnership with the American Red Cross to collaborate on massage therapy services for Red Cross Volunteers. The agreement outlines ways for AMTA state chapter community service teams to connect and collaborate with the Red Cross locally in both emergency and non-emergency community events.

“We are delighted to formalize a relationship with the American Red Cross that will allow massage therapy community service teams organized by our chapters to efficiently provide massage therapy to their volunteers,” says AMTA President Nancy Porambo. Through the agreement, AMTA chapters and Red Cross offices will have standardized information to activate and deploy massage therapists as situations dictate it.

Christopher Deery and I could not volunteer in Missouri for the Joplin Tornadoes (we were not licensed in a regulated state, which was a legal requirement for Missouri). We still volunteered though. We appreciate the generosity of the Connecticut Chapter of the AMTA for donating their CSMT Community Service Massage Team Manual and supporting the Missouri Chapter of the AMTA. With their support, my experience at the Oklahoma City Bombing, MERT trainings that Christopher and I had attended, as well as Emergency Response Massage International trainings, we volunteered to help train the first group of volunteer therapists in the aftermath of the Joplin Tornadoes.

One of the most important things that we can take away from our experiences is that we can all get along when it matters. We are after all, a family of hands. I am proud to say I still know and am friends with a number of those therapists. I am ashamed to say that I may not remember some others, or have not been able to stay in touch with them. It is sad that some of these amazing Massage Therapists have already passed from this earth – we remember them today as well. To all of you that were there – I am thinking of you today. We are remembered not for awards or accolades, but by our hands and hearts, because we will always remember what we accomplished together.

These are the Massage Therapists that volunteered their time at the Myriad Center 20 years ago.

Kim Allen

Steven Abernathy

Virginia Anthony

Laura Bagby

Brian Baresch

Dan Barrow

Milton Bates

Stuart Bazeley

Kate Belis

Kerry Billington

Minona Bolin

Sheree Holman-Boman

Randy Boman

Bob Bottorff

Nancy Broers

Kathy Brehm

Renee Brown

Sua Ann Bryan

Nancy Buff

Suzanne Chapek

Gianna Chapman

Gail Conklin

Ladonna Cox

John Dempsey

Donna Dieck

D.M.Dutt

Ann Marie Eriksen

Rizaldo Evangelista

Suzan Ewton

Paula Fienstein

Shirley Fisher

Sharon Ford

Mary Foster

Phyllis Foster

Ken French

Gabriel Fuentes

Meloa K. Gallup

Kelly Gatewood

Xerlan Geiser

LaJune Goss

Pat Guillet

Karen Graham

Audrey Hamilton

Harold Hamilton

Owen Hendrix

Linda Howard

Mo Hull

Gayle Hutchinson

Eileen Husserl

Jeana Isbell

Debbie (Jean) Fite

John Johnston

Jeff Kates

Beth Kellog

Lynne Kincaid

Tanya Koshker

G.W.Long

Jan Lovell

Rita Lynn

Linda McCarr

Marahlyn McCormick

Linda McCune

Nancy Moody

Bill Moore

Nancy Moran

Bruce Moran

Leslie Mullin

Virginia Mynar

Zella Newberry

Linda Nickels

Donna Otey

Gebhart Parzer

Pam Phenicie

Bernice Pipher

Valarie Pratt

Hollis Price

Andreina Rains

Doug Rasmussen

Cindy Ray

Jeffery Reynolds

Marcy Roberts

Sarah Rucker

Mary Anne Secrist

Charles Sisk

Trudie Davis (Sisk)

Bill Skelton

Kathy Slowik

Joe Stewart

Stephanie Stiles

Mary Taylor

Jill Tepker

Nathan Tibbs

Penny Tibbs

Karen Thompson

Loanne Tremaine

Kim Van der Wal

Jerry Verner

Joan Welch

Kevin Wilson

Paul Wilson

Lisa Youngworth