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Upwards of 40,000 fire fighters, police officers, city employees and volunteers were at Ground Zero on the day of the 9/11 attack and during the weeks and months afterwards. To varying degrees, these heroes and heroines were exposed to a range of environmental toxins, including cement and glass dust, asbestos, fiberglass, lead and other heavy metals and PCBs.
They also sustained significant psychological trauma. Reports indicate that more than a thousand firefighters have retired due to health-related problems stemming from their work at Ground Zero -- and that number is expected to grow.
At this point, some 22,000 New York City firefighters and rescue workers have undergone a first round of examinations to determine the state of their health.
But, until now the funds to do a full, long-term study and collect data on their physical and mental conditions has been lacking
That situation has now been rectified.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has secured -- through the auspices of New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton -- eight grants totaling $81 million to fund a five-year health screening program for New York City firefighters and other workers and volunteers who provided rescue, recovery, and restoration services at the World Trade Center site. The grants will be used to conduct free, standardized clinical examinations for each eligible individual over the next five years.
Mrs. Clinton should be applauded for her unstinting advocacy on behalf of the first responders and those who volunteered so unselfishly in the aftermath.
HHS awarded the grants to the New York City Fire Department, the Long Island Occupational and Environmental Health Center, the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, the New York University School of Medicine, the City University of New York's Queens College, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
The funds will assist in the identification of symptoms, injuries, or conditions that may indicate long-term illness as a result of the World Trade Center rescue and recovery operations, so that interventions and treatments can begin.
The grants awarded to the New York City Fire Department and the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine will also be used to develop data and establish coordinating data centers, thus assuring ongoing coordination between the various clinical sites that will perform the examinations. The development of accurate databases of information will help determine the ongoing needs and priorities of the health-screening program, and the assistance needed by those who answered the call at Ground Zero.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health will administer the grants.
In the almost three years since the attack, there has been mounting concern about the related injuries and chronic illnesses felt linked to the exposure at the World Trade Center site. Health and labor experts estimated that thousands -- a figure some put at approximately 30,000 -- are experiencing health and emotional problems.
The grants will go a long ways towards helping those who are suffering now, or who might develop health problems later.
This city, indeed this nation, owes a debt to thousands who risked their lives day after day, for months at the tragic site. No amount of money can pay off that debt. The least we can do is to help the heroes and heroines who suffer now or will in the future.
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