The Forgotten Responders: The Ongoing Impact of 9/11 on the Ground Zero Recovery Workers

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 436-440
Author(s):  
Erin C. Smith ◽  
Frederick M. Burkle
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
First Responders ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Publication Type ◽  
Ground Zero ◽  
Repetitive Motion ◽  
Psychosocial Impacts ◽  
Long Term Impact

AbstractIn the years following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (9/11; New York USA), emergency first responders began experiencing a range of physical health and psychosocial impacts. Publications documenting these tended to focus on firefighters, while emerging reports are starting to focus on other first responders, including paramedics, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and police. The objective of this research was to explore the long-term impact on another important group of 9/11 responders, the non-emergency recovery workers who responded to the World Trade Center (WTC) site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In the 16 years following 9/11, Ground Zero recovery workers have been plagued by a range of long-term physical impacts, including musculoskeletal injuries, repetitive motion injuries, gait deterioration, and respiratory disorders. Psychosocial issues include posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, insomnia, support system fatigue, and addictive and risk-taking behaviors. These findings go some way to filling the current gap in the understanding on the long-term impact of 9/11 and to provide an important testimony of the “forgotten responders” – the Ground Zero recovery workers.SmithECBurkleFMJr. The forgotten responders: the ongoing impact of 9/11 on the Ground Zero recovery workers. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(4):436–440

Paramedic and Emergency Medical Technician Reflections on the Ongoing Impact of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin C. Smith ◽  
Frederick M. Burkle
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Emergency Medical Technician ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Publication Type ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Eye Problems ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
Medical Technician

AbstractIntroductionIn the years following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City (New York USA), otherwise known as 9/11, first responders began experiencing a range of health and psychosocial impacts. Publications documenting these largely focus on firefighters. This research explores paramedic and emergency medical technician (EMT) reflections on the long-term impact of responding to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.MethodsQualitative methods were used to conduct interviews with 54 paramedics and EMTs on the 15-year anniversary of 9/11.ResultsResearch participants reported a range of long-term psychosocial issues including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, insomnia, relationship breakdowns and impact on family support systems, and addictive and risk-taking behaviors. Ongoing physical health issues included respiratory disorders, eye problems, and cancers.DiscussionThese findings will go some way to filling the current gap in the 9/11 evidence-base regarding the understanding of the long-term impact on paramedics and EMTs. The testimony of this qualitative research is to ensure that an important voice is not lost, and that the deeply personal and richly descriptive experiences of the 9/11 paramedics and EMTs are not forgotten.SmithEC,BurkleFMJr.Paramedic and emergency medical technician reflections on the ongoing impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.Prehosp Disaster Med.2019;34(1):56–61.

Health Trends among 9/11 Responders from 2011–2021: A Review of World Trade Center Health Program Statistics

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Erin Smith ◽  
Lisa Holmes ◽  
Brigid Larkin
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Health Program ◽  
Smoking Status ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
First Responders ◽  
Fire Department ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Health Trends ◽  
Trade Center

Abstract Introduction: In a single day, the September 11, 2001 US terrorist attacks (9/11) killed nearly 3,000 people, including 412 first responders. More than 91,000 responders were exposed to a range of hazards during the recovery and clean-up operation that followed. Various health programs track the on-going health effects of 9/11, including the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program (WTCHP). The objective of this research was to review WTCHP statistics reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to analyze health trends among enrolled responders as the 20-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks approaches. Methods: The WTCHP statistics reported by the CDC were analyzed to identify health trends among enrolled responders from 2011 through 2021. Statistics for non-responders were excluded. Results: A total of 80,745 responders were enrolled in the WTCHP as of March 2021: 62,773 were classified as general responders; 17,023 were Fire Department of New York (FDNY) responders; and 989 were Pentagon and Shanksville responders. Of the total responders in the program, 3,439 are now deceased. Just under 40% of responders with certified health issues were aged 45-64 and 83% were male. The top three certified conditions among enrolled responders were: aerodigestive disorders; cancer; and mental ill health. The top ten certified cancers have remained the same over the last five years, however, leukemia has now overtaken colon and bladder cancer as the 20-year anniversary approaches. Compared to the general population, 9/11 first responders had a higher rate of all cancers combined, as well as higher rates of prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, and leukemia. Discussion: Trends in these program statistics should be viewed with some caution. While certain illnesses have been linked with exposure to the WTC site, differences in age, sex, ethnicity, smoking status, and other factors between exposed and unexposed groups should also be considered. Increased rates of some illnesses among this cohort may be associated with heightened surveillance rather than an actual increase in disease. Still, cancer in general, as well as lung disease, heart disease, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), seem to be increasing among 9/11 responders, even now close to 20 years later. Conclusion: Responders should continue to avail themselves of the health care and monitoring offered through programs like the WTCHP.

Oh Did You See the Ashes Come Thickly Falling Down?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Zeitlin
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
World Trade ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
New York University ◽  
Ground Zero ◽  
The World ◽  
Trade Center ◽  
Union Square ◽  
New Yorkers

This chapter considers the proliferation of street poems as a form of healing and remembrance after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City. In the days and weeks that followed the attack on the World Trade Center, the streets of New York lay eerily quiet and deserted. The poets did not wait for the dust to settle. As streams of water poured over the smoke at Ground Zero, distraught and bereaved New Yorkers scrawled missives in the ash. On the afternoon of the first day, Jordan Schuster, a student from New York University, laid out a sheet of butcher paper in Union Square; he was the first of many to inspire his fellow New Yorkers to set down their thoughts in poetry. Words proliferated into a barrage of written feeling that vented rage and offered solace. Street shrines served as portals for the living to talk directly to the terrorists.

Treating Survivors of the World Trade Center Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 611-615
Author(s):  
Robert Grossman ◽  
Rachel Yehuda
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
September 11 ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
The World ◽  
Trade Center ◽  
New Yorkers

ABSTRACTAs part of an established traumatic stress research and treatment program located in New York City, we experienced the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center first as New Yorkers, but also as professionals with an interest in both treating the survivors and furthering scientific knowledge regarding the neurobiology and treatment of traumatic stress. This paper gives vignettes of calls to our program and the treatment of World Trade Center terrorist attack survivors.

New Challenges in Privacy Protection

2011 ◽  
pp. 125-140
Author(s):  
Lech J. Janczewski
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Privacy Protection ◽  
World Trade ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
The World ◽  
Trade Center ◽  
New Challenges

The protection of privacy is a function of many variables: culture, politics, and point of view. Practically all countries have introduced laws regulating these problems. Terrorist attacks culminating with the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington indicated a need to change these regulations. Therefore, this chapter defines the notion of privacy and cites typical regulations related to the protection of privacy and the interception of private communications and documents. This discussion terminates with a presentation of a worldwide prognosis in this field.

Forting Up the Skyline: Rebuilding at Ground Zero

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harvey Molotch
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
World Trade ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
Market Forces ◽  
Security Measures ◽  
Ground Zero ◽  
The World ◽  
Trade Center

This chapter focuses on Ground Zero and the successive attempts to rebuild. It treats the replacement skyline of New York as a great mishap and wasted opportunity. Security measures display, on the ground, some rather new ways that political authority combines with market forces to shape the world. Although there were varied aesthetic and moral visions of what should happen at the site, the pugilist instinct predominated. Post-9/11 measures to protect the downtown called for not just any sort of buildings, but those that would show the enemy that we could build tall and powerful. The result is a different kind of building in the form of One World Trade Center, also known as “Freedom Tower.” It is argued that the “program” for the structure, still in another way, created vulnerabilities through misguided hardening up.

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