Responders to Twin Towers still paying the price

2/3 of FDNY firefighters, EMTs who worked at WTC site have long-term illness: Report

ABC 7 News
By Eyewitness News
September 7, 2021

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Twenty years after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, more than two-thirds of New York City firefighters and EMTs who responded to the World Trade Center that day or worked on the pile of toxic wreckage have some kind of long-term illness, according to the latest snapshot of FDNY health released Wednesday.

Nearly 16,000 FDNY members were exposed to dust, particulates, noxious gases, chemicals, and fibers while working for more than 10 months in the rescue and recovery effort.

More than 11,300 of them have been diagnosed and certified with at least one WTC-covered condition for physical or mental health, from asthma and reflux to PTSD and cancer, the report from the FDNY World Trade Center Health Program said.

"This intense environmental exposure is directly related to many of the symptoms and illnesses," the report said.
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