First Responders

As Americans learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, PA, thousands of emergency responders and health care professionals rushed to the scene to help. These brave heroes, who came from every corner of the nation, included Dr. J. Randall Pearce, a forensic dentist working with the Forensic Anthropology Center […]

The nearly half a million people exposed to Ground Zero toxins after 9/11 have a substantially higher risk of 68 different types of cancer, including cervical cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 14,480 new cases of invasive cervical cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2021, and about 4,290 women […]

59 passengers and crew members perished, along with another 125 people working at the Department of Defense headquarters, on American Airlines Flight 77 at the Pentagon. Today, the thousands of first responders and search-and-rescue workers who aided in the rescue and recovery operation are themselves at risk, as a result of their exposure to airborne […]

A group of mental health professionals who work with 9/11 first responders and survivors through the World Trade Center Health Program recently published an article in Psychology Today on “What 9/11 Recovery Workers Teach Us About COVID-19 Coping.” The article explores how lessons from treating responders and rescue and recovery workers are applicable to the present crisis, […]

The desire to return to normal life after nearly a year of quarantine, home schooling and business shutdowns is stronger than ever. News that multiple vaccines are on the way is exciting, but health care authorities still caution that America is headed into a dark winter with COVID-19 cases spiking to higher levels than ever. […]

There are now 68 different types of cancer and dozens of respiratory illnesses that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has linked to exposure to Ground Zero toxins on 9/11 or during any part of the following 8 months.  The heroes who came to Lower Manhattan as first responders on 9/11 or […]