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A week before the sixth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, the Fire Department announced an initiative Tuesday to bring the physical and mental help firefighters need closer to where they live. NY1's Amanda Farinacci filed the following report.
Roughly one in five firefighters being treated by the department for September 11th-related ailments lives on Staten Island, so the FDNY has decided to bring its services to the community.
"It's an acknowledgment almost six years after September 11 that the wounds run deep and long and no community knows better than that than here on Staten Island, particularly the Fire Department," said Congressman Vito Fossella.
The department says each year more than 3,000 members are taking advantage of counseling services being offered at four offices across the state.
But, up to now, the more than 2,000 active and retired firefighters being treated for a 9/11 physical ailments have had to visit department doctors at headquarters in Brooklyn. Not any more. Now, FDNY doctors will spend one day a week at each of the satellite offices, and the hundreds of firefighters being monitored for 9/11-related illnesses can get treatment there.
"Majority would be lungs, but we also see a fair amount of people with, again, gird, as well as sinus problems," said Dr. Kerry Kelly of the FDNY. "And many people have multiple problems, so that they're on often anywhere between five to six prescriptions."
The FDNY has tapped into a $125 million federal grant for 9/11-related health issues to pay for the increased services. Officials are hoping the combined medical services will encourage continued participation in the department's World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program, which has tracked more than 14,000 firefighters since 9/11.
The satellite office on Staten Island is the first to offer both physical and mental health services, but in just a couple of weeks, three more will do the same in Queens, Orange, and Suffolk counties.
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