At Ground Zero, an IU physician takes on his role with FEMA

By Joe Stuteville

“Unbelievable, very surreal,” said. Olinger, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and medical director of emergency medical and ambulance services at Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis.

“The enormity of the destruction is so vast and virtually impossible to describe,” said Olinger, whose crackled cell phone conversation is laced with the staccato background noise of wailing sirens and grumbling heavy-equipment vehicles.

Olinger was in upstate New York at an emergency medicine conference when the attacks occurred in Manhattan and at the Pentagon. He was immediately dispatched to New York City to serve in a role for which has extensive training. Olinger is a medical services coordinator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Urban Search and Rescue System, working side-by-side with emergency crews to provide emergency care to victims who are trapped beneath rubble.

It isn’t the first time Olinger’s expertise has been put to the test. He was involved in emergency operations in the 1995 terrorist bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, and later that same year when Hurricane Marilyn struck the U.S. Virgin Islands. Olinger also was among the support staff at the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta.

Closer to home, Olinger has served on Indiana’s Emergency Medical Services Commission and has been medical director for several EMS agencies in the Indianapolis-Marion County area. He also is assistant medical director for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis Racing League.