NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 13

I'll never forget the first guy I saw, he was a utility worker, a strapping young guy. He came in to see me one morning the second week of September 2001; he was coughing and had some sinus stuff. This guy was working 12-16 hour shifts down at Ground Zero for his job and then he would change out of his uniform and go back in his civilian clothes to work another six hours searching, trying to do rescue and recovery. I said, 'Why are you doing that?' He told me he lost a family member. To me, that encapsulated everything that was happening down there in the beginning and then throughout the cleanup. These guys were totally selfless, altruistic individuals who were also there because their sense of family had taken this huge hit. They had suffered personal losses and the way they were responding to all that grief was to go out and try and serve other people. I talk to these guys 15 years later, with 9/11-related mental health issues; and even the guys with cancer, and ask, 'Now that more 32,000 have been diagnosed with aeroyou know what you know, would you still digestive issues, such as asthma, chronic cough, go down there?' And they say, 'Absolutely. I gastroesophageal reflux disorder or chronic would do it again tomorrow in a heartbeat.' obstructive pulmonary disease, connected to the attacks, according to the CDC. Do we know what these people were Dr. Michael Crane is an occupational medi- exposed to on that site during the attack and in the aftermath, digging cine specialist and the medical director of the WTC Health Program at Mount Sinai Medical on the pile? Center in New York. He has worked closely After the collapse of the tower, an enorwith 9/11 rescue and recovery workers and mous dust cloud seemed to swallow lower treated them for an array of illnesses related to Manhattan. The people walking through exposures at Ground Zero. Crane sees a dozen that cloud looked like they were coated in or more new cancer certifications of Ground plaster. The guys who went there and got in Zero responders each week. Even with more the first day to do rescue and recovery were patients reporting past diagnoses, and other in that all day, pretty much without protecfactors like an aging population, he says he is tion of any kind. If they had any respiratory "very much convinced, as are my colleagues, protection at all, the filters clogged up that the actual population of 9/11 responders really fast in that dust. with cancer is increasing. And I don't think we We actually don't know what was in have them all yet. It's a very serious issue." that cloud. Nobody got out there to grab NFPA Journal spoke with Crane about the samples to test, so to this day we treat it as WTC Health Program, health trends among though it was an unknown exposure. Literrescue and recovery workers at Ground ally when the dust settled, we had guys go Zero, and the inspiration he takes from the out with cups, scoop out some dust from responders he meets every day. various sites, and bring it back to the lab- TO LEARN more about the World Trade Center Health Program, visit cdc.gov/wtc/index.html TO SEE if you are eligible for the WTC Health Program and to apply, visit cdc.gov/wtc/apply.html " I talk to these guys 15 years later, even the guys with cancer, and ask, 'Now that you know what you know, would you still go down there?' And they say, 'Absolutely. I would do it again tomorrow in a heartbeat.' " Working with these 9/11 recovery workers and responders, I imagine you've had some heart-breaking moments and some inspiring moments. What sticks in your mind? SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 NFPA JOURNAL 13 http://www.cdc.gov/wtc/index.html http://www.cdc.gov/wtc/apply.html

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2016