Was there anything stopping her or other women from immediately volunteering when the planes hit ? I thought I remember that some firefighters were off duty when they reported.
In the two days immediately following the attack I personally saw a number of women working in/at/near GZ. Most were nurses who were manning a hasty-triage unit in the ruins of a Burger King right on the edge of the former footprint of the towers (SW corner of Church and Liberty). This location is only thirty yards from One Liberty, the office tower that was expected to collapse. If it had gone I don't think that anyone working that BK location would have survived. During our time there the warning horns that were meant to let people know that One Liberty was coming down blew twice. After each false, but brutally frightening warning these women went back to work.
There were also other women on the periphery who were busy distributing water and masks. Further north (about four blocks) there were quite a few women doing what they could.
I did see only one woman volunteer working the pile. I also saw a handful of female uniform personnel. I know of a female college student from the VFD in my town who spent three days in the absolute hell that was the pile and the pit.
Women were there. But, at least on the part of the volunteers, the overwhelming demographic was white male.
Was there anything stopping her or other women from immediately volunteering when the planes hit ? I thought I remember that some firefighters were off duty when they reported. I don't know the exact figures, but a bunch of firemen who were killed on 9/11 were off duty, and simply showed up at the WTC to help. There's no reason that the female firefighters couldn't have done the same thing.