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The Forgotten Responders: The Ongoing Impact of 9/11 on the Ground Zero Recovery Workers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2018

Erin C. Smith  and
Frederick M. Burkle Jr.
Erin C. Smith*
Affiliation:
Edith Cowan University, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Joondalup, Western Australia James Cook University, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, Cairns, Australia
Frederick M. Burkle Jr.
Affiliation:
Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard Universityand Harvard T.C. Chan School of Public Health, Cambridge, MassachusettsUSA
*
Correspondence: Erin C. Smith, PhD, MPH, MClinEpi Edith Cowan University School of Medical and Health Sciences Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

In the years following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (9/11; New York USA), emergency first responders began experiencing a range of physical health and psychosocial impacts. Publications documenting these tended to focus on firefighters, while emerging reports are starting to focus on other first responders, including paramedics, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and police. The objective of this research was to explore the long-term impact on another important group of 9/11 responders, the non-emergency recovery workers who responded to the World Trade Center (WTC) site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In the 16 years following 9/11, Ground Zero recovery workers have been plagued by a range of long-term physical impacts, including musculoskeletal injuries, repetitive motion injuries, gait deterioration, and respiratory disorders. Psychosocial issues include posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, insomnia, support system fatigue, and addictive and risk-taking behaviors. These findings go some way to filling the current gap in the understanding on the long-term impact of 9/11 and to provide an important testimony of the “forgotten responders” – the Ground Zero recovery workers.

SmithECBurkleFMJr. The Forgotten Responders: The Ongoing Impact of 9/11 on the Ground Zero Recovery Workers. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(4):436–440

Keywords

9/11ground zerorecovery workerlong-term impactterrorism
Type
Special Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 33 , Issue 4 , August 2018 , pp. 436 - 440
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2018 

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Footnotes

Conflicts of interest/funding: Funding for this research was provided by Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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