June 11, 2004—The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced the awarding of eight grants to fund an $81-million, five-year health screening program of New York City firefighters and other workers and volunteers who provided rescue, recovery, and restoration services at the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster site. The grants will allow the recipients to conduct three free standardized clinical examinations for each eligible individual over the next five years.
Of the more than 40,000 workers and volunteers who were present at Ground Zero, all of the approximately 11,000 New York City firefighters and about 11,000 other rescue workers have already received initial examinations through previous funding from HHS. These additional free, long-term examinations will help employers and public health professionals identify symptoms, injuries, or conditions that may indicate long-term illness as a result of the World Trade Center rescue and recovery operations, so that interventions can be pursued.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will administer the grants.
