Health Problems Plague WTC Rescuers

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> washingtonpost.com

>

> Health Problems Plague WTC Rescuers

>

> By MALIA RULON

> The Associated Press

> Monday, September 8, 2003; 8:32 AM

>

> WASHINGTON - When Dan Kochensparger was on his hands and knees sifting

> through cement, metal and other debris at the World Trade Center site in

> New York, specks were floating in the thick air. He didn't think about

what

> they were.

>

> He was doing his job as a hazardous materials specialist, monitoring the

> wreckage as he and other members of Ohio's emergency response team

searched

> for survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The breathing

> problems came later.

>

> " The air was pretty much filled with (particulate matter) the whole time.

> We didn't realize it, but a lot of the photo documentation we had done,

> there were particles on the pictures, " said Kochensparger, a 21-year

> veteran of the Upper Arlington Fire Department in central Ohio.

>

> A federal program created to monitor the health effects of work at the

site

> has found thousands still suffering from asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis and

> depression.

>

> It's the first time the health of rescue and recovery workers has been

> followed so closely after a major disaster. As the second anniversary of

> the attacks nears, new information coming out on long-term health

> implications of rescue work is getting the attention of emergency

officials

> and prompting Congress to consider creating federal screening for future

> disasters.

>

> " A lot of us in the rescue business don't think about the long-term

effects

> of our work, " said Kettering Fire Chief Robert Zickler, captain of Ohio

> Task Force One, a 72-member team dispatched to the Trade Center wreckage

> for 10 days.

>

> Doctors monitoring the health of people who dug through the rubble at

> Ground Zero now say the airborne particles likely were pulverized

concrete.

> When inhaled, it can burn the lungs. When swallowed, it can inflame the

> stomach lining, causing heartburn.

>

> Kochensparger came home with a cold and a persistent cough. His doctor

> diagnosed walking pneumonia and bronchitis. He wasn't alone.

>

> " Some may never recover. They may be walking through a street and get a

> sudden blast of exhaust and their chest will tighten, " said Dr. Stephen

> Levin, co-director of the federal screening program for World Trade Center

> workers, which is being administered by New York's Mount Sinai Medical

Center.

>

> To date, about 7,500 of the estimated 30,000 workers who toiled at the

> ruins have been examined under the $12 million program created in July

> 2002. With $4 million in extra funding this year, doctors expect to

examine

> 4,500 more by March 2004.

>

> Preliminary results show 48 percent of workers with ear, nose and throat

> problems such as nasal congestion, hoarseness, headaches and throat

> irritation. Thirty percent have pulmonary problems, including shortness of

> breath, persistent cough and wheezing.

>

> About 19 percent of workers have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress

> disorder - at least double the rate seen in the general population.

>

> The data reflect 1,100 patients screened between July 2002 and April 2003.

> But program directors say patients have continued to report symptoms at

> about the same rate since then.

>

> " We are seeing people now in our screening program - two years later - who

> are still suffering these symptoms, " Levin said in a recent interview.

>

> It's too early to determine whether any of the workers will one day suffer

> from lung or other types of cancer as a result of their assistance, he

> said. A final report on the workers' health is expected next spring.

>

> Meantime, senators from Ohio and New York are working to create a federal

> medical screening program for emergency personnel and others who respond

to

> future disasters.

>

> The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which funds the existing program,

> lacks authority to conduct such long-term monitoring.

>

> " If a horrific event occurs, those who risk their lives to respond must

> know that their health needs will be met, " said Sen. George Voinovich,

> R-Ohio, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works subcommittee

> that oversees FEMA.

>

> His bill passed the committee in July and is pending before the Senate,

> where no opposition is expected. It wouldn't cost anything to create the

> program, and funding to operate it would be appropriated as needed.

>

> Workers whose job it is to rush straight into one disaster after another

> can't believe they have gone so long without the health tracking, which

> wasn't in place for emergency crews who responded to the Oklahoma City

> bombing or to California's earthquakes.

>

> " We go in and answer calls for the safety of other people, that's what we

> are paid to do, " said Robert Hessinger, a paramedic on the Ohio team who

> had trouble taking deep breaths after the Sept. 11 mission.

>

> " There also needs to be things in place to look out for our safety, "

> Hessinger said.

>

> ---

>

> On the Net:

>

> Ohio Task Force One: http://www.ohtf1.com/

>

> Federal screening program: http://www.wtcexams.org/

>

>

> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41582-2003Sep8.html

>