The impact of the World Trade Center attack on FDNY firefighter retirement, disabilities, and pension benefits

Details

• Personal Author:
  Glass L ; Gustave J ; Kelly KJ ; Lee R ; Niles JK ; Prezant DJ ; Webber MP ; Weiden MD ; Zeig-Owens R
• Description:
  Background: Our goal was to examine the effect of the World Trade Center (WTC) attack and subsequent New York City Fire Department (FDNY) rescue/recovery activities on firefighter retirements. We also analyzed the financial impact associated with the increased number and proportion of service-connected ''accidental'' disability retirements on the FDNY pension system. Methods: A total of 7,763 firefighters retired between 9/11/1994 and 9/10/2008. We compared the total number of retirements and the number and proportion of accidental disability retirements 7 years before and 7 years after the WTC attack. We categorized WTC-related accidental disability retirements by medical cause and worked with the New York City Office of the Actuary to approximate the financial impact by cause. Results: In the 7 years before 9/11 there were 3,261 retirements, 48 percent (1,571) of which were accidental disability retirements. In the 7 years after 9/11, there were 4,502 retirements, 66 percent (2,970) were accidental disability retirements, of which 47 percent (1,402) were associated with WTC-related injuries or illnesses. After 9/11, the increase in accidental disability retirements was, for the most part, due to respiratory-related illnesses. Additional increases were attributed to psychological-related illnesses and musculoskeletal injuries incurred at the WTC site. Pension benefits associated with WTC-related accidental disability retirements have produced an increased financial burden of over $826 million on the FDNY pension system. Conclusions: The WTC attacks affected the health of the FDNY workforce resulting in more post-9/11 retirements than expected, and a larger proportion of these retirees with accidental disability pensions. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Emergency Responders Firefighters Mental Disorders Mental Health Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety September 11 Terrorist Attacks
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accidents Author Keywords: Firefighters Disability Disabled-workers Emergency-responders Employee-health Fire-fighters Mental-disorders Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Psychological-disorders Rescue-workers Respiratory-system-disorders Retirement World Trade Center

  More +
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• 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
• Volume:
  54
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20039422
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2011 Sep; 54(9):672-680
• Contact Point Address:
  D.J.Prezant, MD, Fire Department of the City of New York, Office of Medical Affairs, 9 Metrotech Center, Rm 4W-1, Brooklyn, NY 11201
• Email:
  prezand@fdny.nyc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Performing Organization:
  New York City Fire Department
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20040701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20100630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f83ef07a5635eeec9e584073a2fa73e5bf75f077e115a1ebf8d777281297f7b425b55daef9ec5fb158fafc494e7e5cb58daeb18da769ecd747bec97d16920c58
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/192708/cdc_192708_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 135.49 KB ]