Cites Impact on Health
Clinton: Feds Must Help 9/11 Workers

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, citing ongoing negative health effects from 9/11 among first-responders, has called upon the Senate and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop long-term plans to deal with the crisis.

HILLARY CLINTON: Need long-term solutions.

Speaking at a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Ms. Clinton urged her colleagues to amend the Robert T. Stafford Act that dictates Federal disaster relief to include a "recovery entity" that would be available to states that are overwhelmed during a disaster. Run by FEMA, it would ensure that the mental and physical health of volunteers, emergency workers and firstresponders would be tracked and treated by appropriate medical organizations.

Would Monitor Health

Senator Clinton, along with Sen. George Voinovich (D.-Ohio), has also crafted the Disaster Area Health and Environmental Monitoring Act. Currently being considered by the full Senate, the bill would create monitoring programs to track the health of first-responders and residents, with priority on those who suffered high exposure to known toxins.

STEPHEN J. CASSIDY: Critical of city policies.

"There are so many individuals who can no longer perform their duty as firefighters and police officers because of diseases that have materialized, decreased breathing capacity, and other ailments that have emerged since 9/11," Senator Clinton said.

Ms. Clinton added that she still supported the World Trade Center Worker Health Monitoring Programs and the appointment of Dr. John Howard, Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, as the Federal coordinator for 9/11 health.

'No Long-Term Plans'

"But the Federal Government has no plan to deal with this health crisis for the long-term," the Senator reminded her colleagues at the July 28 hearing. "[Emergency workers] should not be cast aside in the debris pile."

The Senator's remarks came the day before the release of an extended medical study detailing loss of lung capacity in firefighters who responded to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. According to Montefiore Medical Center, which conducted some of the tests, lung exams of 12,000 workers in the year after the disaster showed those present in the early stages of the rescue effort suffered the most damage.

Doctors at Montefiore compared data from firefighters who responded to the World Trade Center site with lung function tests applied to firefighters years before 9/11.

Shunned Masks Initially

The results showed a substantial reduction in forced expiratory volume - the amount that can be breathed out in one second - in the year after 9/11.

Approximately 14 percent of rescue workers were exposed to peak amounts of dust because they were on site when the Twin Towers collapsed. Another 67.8 percent were at Ground Zero for the two days after the buildings crumbled, and 16 percent arrived after the third day.

The study said that only 22 percent of those who arrived early reported wearing a mask on the first day, but that number jumped to 50 percent by the third day. Researchers did not note a discernible difference in lung capacity between those who had used a mask and those who hadn't, however.

Uniformed Firefighters' Association President Stephen J. Cassidy said in a written statement released after the study that many firefighters worried about the longterm effect of 9/11 dust - and how their possible health problems could affect their families.

Prods City to Act

"This concern is only further complicated by the lack of clarity about the city's positions relating to the protection of firefighters, " he said. "We hope the city has changed its policy on important legislation to protect the families [of those] who may become ill and die from working at the World Trade Center site. Currently there are over 100 firefighters that [Fire Department] doctors have deemed as too permanently disabled to continue working as firefighters, yet the city won't allow them to retire."

Earlier this summer, the UFA, along with the Uniformed Fire Officers' Association, endorsed Senator Clinton for re-election. Mr. Cassidy, who backed President Bush's 2004 re-election, cited Senator Clinton's efforts on behalf of firefighters and other first-responders as a main reason for his support.