As firefighters and EMS members who responded to 9/11 get older, the FDNY is pushing for the federal government to add cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, and other ailments to the list of covered 9/11 illnesses that could help survivors in the future.
Studies by the FDNY WTC Health Program show that a higher percentage of FDNY members exposed to the toxins at Ground Zero are suffering from these diseases than the average population, FDNY WTC Health Program director Dr. David Prezant said at a press conference at FDNY headquarters in downtown Brooklyn Tuesday.
“These diseases have increased over and above what you would expect in aging,” he said. “It is a very high bar the federal government requires for us to leap over to prove that these illnesses are World Trade Center-related.”
The average age of those in the program today stands at 64, when the body’s health defenses are less resilient than they were in one’s 30s, he said.
Studies on cardiovascular disease among the FDNY’s 9/11 survivors showed a “significant association between WTC exposure and cardiovascular risk,” according to a report that the FDNY WTC Health Program put out Tuesday. An updated report from the program is issued every five years.
“Those who arrived at the WTC site on the morning of 9/11 had about a 38% greater risk of developing a primary cardiovascular event compared with those who arrived later,” the report noted.
Yet cardiovascular disease is also America’s leading cause of death. The federal government declined the petition to add it to the list of WTC-related illnesses “just a few weeks ago,” Prezant said.
“We’re going to keep trying,” he added. “Despite this, this workforce is struggling to get past that, one way or another.”
As members are now aging into their 60s and beyond, there’s increasing concern over health conditions that can take longer to emerge and aren’t currently covered under the federal James Zadroga Act, which funds the critical program, FDNY officials said.
“Sadly, we know that 9/11 was not a one-day event for our department,” Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said. “It is a day that continues to sicken our members, with many of them eventually succumbing to a disease related to the heroic work in the rescue and recovery efforts.”
“But the report,” she said, “proves without a shadow of a doubt that medical monitoring works. We have data-driven outcomes that show that our program produces real, life-saving impacts. And that translates into more time — more time with their loved ones, more birthdays, more holidays, weddings and graduations.”
On Sept. 11, 2001, the FDNY lost 343 members who responded to the World Trade Center. But the attack’s fallout has continued, with an additional 600 firefighters and EMS workers having died of certified 9/11-related conditions. Meanwhile, other members continue to suffer from ailments from time spent at Ground Zero, including chronic respiratory issues and cancers, plus mental health issues.
Yet, in many areas — other than respiratory — their health is better than that of the general population facing the same health problems, officials said, because of the FDNY health program.
More than 15,000 firefighters and EMS members, 87% of them now retired, are in the FDNY World Trade Center Health Program, which is part of the larger World Trade Center Health Program.
Almost everyone in the department responded to Ground Zero either the day of the attack or in the days immediately afterward — when the health impacts were worst. More than 10,500 of them have or have had a certified physical health condition tied to 9/11, including more than 4,700 with cancer.
Prezant said the FDNY WTC Health Program works because it’s “holistic,” including early diagnosis, early treatment and continued monitoring.
In short, the program is “a model” for other programs the doctor said.
“They’re alive today,” he said. “They’re not broke. And they don’t have the stress.”
