Injuries and Illnesses Among New York City Fire Department Rescue Workers After Responding to the World Trade Center Attacks

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Banauch, G. ; Corrigan, M. ; Hirschhorn, R. ; Kelly, Kevin M. ; McLaughlin, M. ; Prezant, David J.
• Description:
  Within minutes of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) operated a continuous rescue/recovery effort at the World Trade Center (WTC) site. Medical officers of FDNY Bureau of Health Services (FDNY-BHS) responded to provide emergency medical services. The collapse of the WTC towers and several adjacent structures resulted in a vast, physically dangerous disaster zone. The height of the WTC towers produced extraordinary forces during their collapse, pulverizing considerable portions of the buildings' structural components and exposing first responders and civilians to substantial amounts of airborne particulate matter. Fires burned continuously under the debris until mid-December 2001. Because of ongoing fire activity and the large numbers of civilians and rescue workers who were killed during the attacks, approximately 11,000 FDNY firefighters and many emergency medical service (EMS) personnel worked on or directly adjacent to the rubble and incurred substantial exposures (Figure). This report describes morbidity and mortality in FDNY rescue workers during the 11-month period after the WTC attacks and documents a substantial increase in respiratory and stress-related illness compared with the time period before the WTC attacks. These findings demonstrate the need to provide acute and long-term medical monitoring, treatment, and counseling to FDNY rescue workers exposed to this disaster and to solve supply, compliance, and supervision problems so that respiratory protection can be rapidly provided at future disasters. During the collapse, 343 FDNY rescue workers died and, during the next 24 hours, an additional 240 FDNY rescue workers sought emergency medical treatment. This report includes all reported injuries/illnesses during the 24 hours following the attacks. Traumatic injuries are reported for the 3 months after the attacks because many workers did not report their injuries initially so they could participate in the rescue effort. Respiratory and stress-related illnesses are reported for the 11 months after the attacks because onset might be delayed and/or influenced by repeated exposures. Stress-related illnesses include post-traumatic stress disorders, depression, anxiety disorders, and bereavement issues. Incidence rates after the attacks (September 11, 2001--August 22, 2002) are compared with rates for the preceding year (September 11, 2000--August 22, 2001). Cases were identified from the FDNY-BHS computerized medical data base, which includes data on all FDNY rescue workers who present to hospitals or treatment centers for emergency medical treatment or to FDNY--BHS for symptom/injury/illness evaluation, medical leave evaluations, the WTC exposure medical monitoring program, worker's compensation injury/illness claims, or disability/retirement evaluations. Typically, case ascertainment is complete because all FDNY rescue workers must report to FDNY--BHS for regular evaluations if they present to hospitals or treatment centers while on duty, require on- or off-duty medical leave, file worker's compensation, or request retirement disability. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Dust Emergency Responders Firefighters Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Lung Morbidity Mortality Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety September 11 Terrorist Attacks

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• Keywords:
  Airborne-dusts Airborne-fibers Airborne-particles Dust-exposure Dust-particles Dusts Emergency-responders Fire-fighters Medical-personnel Medical-services Monitoring-systems Morbidity-rates Mortality-rates Particulate-dust Particulates Pulmonary-function Pulmonary-system Pulmonary-system-disorders Rescue-workers Respiratory-system-disorders Stress

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• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement ; Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• Volume:
  51
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046171
• Citation:
  MMWR 2002 Sep; 51(Special Issue):1-5
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Performing Organization:
  New York City Fire Department
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20040701
• End Date:
  20110630
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:809941c16c7b3576757f5dae5b0df1f0b037931f4cdbeeae1349c06ea11f2e96526ebcd1ae9af0e77ce0213c72ff1432d3c5652ab23df0f882ce75c9c6e3af8d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/183153/cdc_183153_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.86 MB ]