The Freedom Tower

The latest report on health problems suffered by first responders after the 9/11 terrorists attacks came out Tuesday. It was the fifth in a series of reports requested by Connecticut Republican Chris Shays and the 9/11 Health Caucus.
It shows that firemen, police, EMT workers and others are suffering from respiratory ailments related to the attacks but they are unable to get the care they need. This comes from a story by Tiffany Sharples from Medill Reports Washington. Shays asked the Government Accountability Office to look into the care or lack of it offered to 9/11 first responders.
The latest report by the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, calls for the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a comprehensive program to provide care for all people—from whatever part of the country—who came to help in the aftermath of Sept. 11.

“For years, efforts to create an organized, effective health plan system for first responders to Ground Zero has been incomplete and uncoordinated,” Shays said in a statement. Of the more than 400,000 people exposed to the toxic atmosphere at Ground Zero, just 71,000 have registered with the World Trade Center Health Registry, including 750 from Connecticut.

The registry was just one of the efforts to get people care they need. A month after the attack on the World Trade Center, government health agencies established a screening program for federal employees who worked at Ground Zero. Since that time, the program has been inconsistent, and even inoperable for periods of several months. As recently as January through May of this year it was shut down due to administrative changes.

In addition, of the 1,300 federal employees who were screened for illness and directed to seek care with specialists, 104 had to wait a full year—from April 2006 to last March—because during that time the program did not pay for visits to pulmonologists and cardiologists, as well as other specialists.

“When I tell people there are people sick from 9/11 who aren’t being treated, they can’t believe it,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who requested the study along with Shays and Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y.

For responders who are not federal employees, efforts to provide care have been largely limited to the greater New York City area, despite stop-and-go efforts made by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. From late 2002 until July 2004, a loose network was established to address the health care needs of nonfederal responders, but since that time the program has functioned only sporadically.

“Much work needs to be done to ensure those affected receive the care they deserve,” said Shays in a statement, but also acknowledged that progress has been made. “I am encouraged to see these initial necessary steps.”