Movie Review

The movie World Trade Center (2006) directed by Oliver Stone centers around the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The movie follows two Port Authority officers, John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno, who attempt to aid in the rescue of 9-11 victims. While trying to make their way to help victims in the first Tower that had been hit, they become trapped under the rubble without an ability to get free or call for help. The movie centers on the struggles faced by these two men to overcome fear, pain, and loss as they struggle to make it back home to their families. This movie can serve as a learning aid to address steps for alleviating the crisis, using coping skills, and developing resiliency.
While enroute to the scene, emergency responders talked about the first attack to the Twin Towers which occurred in 1993. During this conversation is was mentioned that there was no plan of action or equipment large enough to accommodate the magnitude of the situation. The severity of a situation like this may never have been prevented, but there were things that could have been in place in case of a catastrophe like what was experienced. One thing that could have helped to minimize the amount of destruction was to have a plan in place, or a plan within the emergency responder units to have a sufficient way to keep command and accountability. Many responders that arrived at the scene were unaccounted for and their command had no idea where they were located at any given time. “The Port Authority's response was hampered by the lack both of standard operating procedures and of radios capable of enabling multiple commands to respond to an incident in unified fashion” (Munson, 2004). The attack on the Twin Towers may have been a shock, however, Al Qaeda had made their mission known since the early 90’s. There should have been personnel trained to aid in such an event, especially after the first attack in the 1990’s. The personnel that needed to be trained includes medical,