FDNY report details lasting health effects of 9/11 rescue and recovery work
NEW YORK -- The FDNY released a landmark report Tuesday detailing the long-term health effects of the September 11 attacks on firefighters, EMTs, paramedics and other rescue and recovery workers, marking nearly 25 years since the terrorist attack.
The report, produced by the FDNY World Trade Center Health Program, draws on decades of research and medical monitoring and examines the health of first responders, officers, civilians and retirees who participated in rescue and recovery operations at Ground Zero.
On the day of the attacks, 343 members of the FDNY were killed as they helped rescue 30,000 people from the Twin Towers. Firefighters stayed at Ground Zero for weeks after the attack and kept inhaling the toxic chemicals.
The report comes as New York prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks later this month. Organizers of the annual 9/11 Memorial & Museum ceremony recently announced a new seventh moment of silence that will become a permanent part of the commemoration.
According to the World Trade Center Health Program, more than 9,000 people have died from illnesses linked to the attacks and their aftermath, including 600 firefighters - a toll that now exceeds the number of people killed on September 11, 2001.
FDNY Chief Medical Officer Doctor David Prezant, who was at Ground Zero on 9/11, announced the latest findings on the long-term health effects for firefighters and other first responders.
Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said more than 12,000 FDNY members were certified for having at least one World Trade Center-related condition.
Since 9/11, more than a tenth have died.
Nearly a quarter of all 12,000 certified members have been diagnosed with cancer.
"Unfortunately we have over a thousand with prostate cancer. Nearly 300 hematologic cancer such as lymphoma or leukemia, 221 with melanoma, which is a serious skin cancer and over 100 with thyroid cancer, and that's just the top five," Dr. Prezant said.
Among the data is a silver lining and lessons learned over the last two and a half decades.
"These treatments result in lives saved. Aggressive monitoring leads to self-diagnosis, which leads to early treatment, which leads to increased survival rates," Dr. Prezant said.
The World Trade Center Health Program is federally funded through Congress and offers free health coverage for registered FDNY members.
Families of victims will gather on Sept. 11 at the 9/11 Memorial Plaza to read the names of the 2,983 people killed in the 2001 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
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