Advocates continue urging Congress to provide more funding for the medical and psychological treatment of those who responded to help calls after 9/11 attacks. However, even with the constant push, the money is slow to come in.

Nearly a full seven years after the attacks, the people who responded and worked at ground zero are beginning to suffer serious illnesses as a result of working around an enormous variety of toxins, including asbestos.

After the attack on the World Trade Center, around 90,000 liters of ignited jet fuel created a cloud of black smoke containing benzene, metals, and other toxins, which, along with the rubble from the collapsing towers, contributed to the heavy contamination.

These emergency responders are suffering a range of serious respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses, and many continue to suffer from worsening health. For those that survive the next few decades, the threat of long-latency cancers such as mesothelioma looms as a result of inhalation of airborne asbestos fibers.

Recently this week, first responders, doctors, and politicians gathered to call on Congress to continue providing funds for medical treatment.  In addition, they wish to collect funds for research on the possible long-term health issues associated with the rescue and cleanup work at the World Trade Center site.

Health centers across the country, especially in New York, are treating thousands of patients who have developed serious illnesses due to their work at ground zero. A clinic in New Jersey, which is expected to provide long-term treatment and monitoring for around 200 people, is actually caring for 1,300 police officers, firefighters, and other emergency responders.

Many other clinics and hospitals are similarly stretched, as they are taking care of a lot more patients than originally expected.

A bill is pending in Congress which, if passed, will continue to provide funding for clinics and medical centers that are treating and monitoring emergency responders. The bill is named after James Zadroga, a New York City police detective, who worked at ground zero for more than 400 hours and died at the age of 34 of a related illness.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 15th, 2008 at 4:24 pm and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.