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Letter from Pat Lynch.
On
September 11, 2001, this country (and City) experienced the single greatest
attack on its soil in our history. This attack led to, among other things,
the destruction of the World Trade Center and surrounding areas. Immediately
after the attacks, our members – NYC Police Officers – and
other first responders, arrived at the World Trade Center and were responsible
for the single greatest rescue effort in this nation’s history.
Thereafter, they participated in the recovery and other efforts at Ground
Zero and other sites.
Our
members responded without regard to whether they were on duty or off
duty, whether they were paid for their efforts or not, and whether or
not they were provided with adequate safety equipment. As a result of
this tremendous response, one that as a country and a City we would
like to see repeated in the event of another catastrophe, our members
most of whom are in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s are
now strongly believed to be suffering with illnesses and sicknesses
caused by their exposure to the toxic chemical mix at Ground Zero and
other locations.
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That toxic mix included such deadly agents as asbestos, benzene, mercury, freon, PCB’s, lead and other carcinogens. Standing alone, these agents are known to be deadly. Because of the unprecedented nature of this catastrophe neither the medical nor scientific community can adequately predict the consequences to our responders of being exposed to these deadly compounds when mixed together. Despite millions of dollars in various monies being targeted for monitoring and treatment, our members have received precious little information as to what specific types of health consequences our members are experiencing and reporting, other than vague references to sinus, breathing and mental health issues -- all of which are serious, but we believe do not represent the full range of illnesses our members are experiencing.
The purpose of this website is to gather information currently available
regarding illnesses responders are experiencing as a result of 9/11
and related exposures, including self reports by members and others,
which will be reported in the PBA World Trade Center Health Registry,
as well as to make available other published literature on WTC- related
illnesses. We also will post Department Directives, laws and other authority
concerning WTC- related health issues, and provide information relating
to existing federally funded monitoring programs.
We invite our members to respond and report illnesses they are experiencing
to aid other officers experiencing symptoms. In this way, our members
who are experiencing symptoms, and have not yet sought treatment, will
take the steps necessary to seek treatment so as to facilitate early
treatment and to prevent the development of more serious health conditions.