"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. It is stupidity rather than courage to refuse to recognize danger when it is close upon you." -Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
As Susan Edelman reported in the NY Post’s billable billions, the legal battle of ailing 9/11 first responders for compensation at Ground Zero will bring literally billions in billable hours to defense lawyers. These fees could amount to half of the money payable to some 10,000 first responders and recovery workers from toxic injuries, whose suits could total some $4 billion.
Of course, the workers were not racking up triple- to four-digit hourly fees plus expenses. They did get to inhale for some period of time Ground Zero’s toxic brew straight from Pandora’s open box. That would be . . .click here for rest of article
The somber wake for Long Island firefighter James Ryan Sunday was filled with sadness and anger.
Upset that Ryan wasn’t given a line-of-duty funeral service, Ryan’s Engine Co. 320 organized an honor guard, bagpipes and transport vehicles on their own.
They said it was about respect for a hero who worked at the World Trade Center site for months after Sept. 11 and whose body gave in to the side-effects of pancreatic cancer on Christmas morning.
“I’m pretty bitter about it,” said Ryan’s brother, Michael, 50, of how his brother’s death is being handled by the city fire department.
The family, including widow Magda and three children, has no doubt Ryan’s death was related to 9/11.
“The doctors had no doubt,” Michael Ryan said. “The people who were there that day were victims. They didn’t hesitate. . . That’s what a real hero does.”
Fellow firefighters said Ryan deserved a line of duty funeral with all the bells, whistles and family benefits that usually come with it.
Thanks to Stephanie Gaskell, New York Daily News Staff writer, we read of the above shocking news, which New York City and the US governments seemingly refuse to let sink into their thick heads and even thicker skin. Thousands of first responders are in dire health conditions, and consequently dire financial and familial conditions, due to illnesses contracted while working at Ground Zero following 9/11.
In this case Robert Grossman, a police office who worked at Ground Zero following 9/11, died of cancer on Friday, October 9. Family members and First Responder activists rightly blame their deaths on the incredible array of poisons released into the air after the explosions and subsequent pyroplastic collapse of the Twin Trade Towers and subsequently Tower Seven.
Stephen Grossman, whose son Robert died of cancer at the age of 44, commented that Everybody is denying that this stuff is connected to 9/11. And right he is. Robert Grossman was a police officer in Harlem who worked at Ground Zero for several weeks after 9/11. His father added, He never once said he was sorry he went down there. None of them walked away even though they all knew it was really dangerous.
The very day after Grossman passed, Firefighter Richard Mannetta, 44, died of cancer. The preceding Wednesday, 37-year old Police Office Cory Diaz died of cancer. Stephen Grossman pointed out, “Unfortunately, it’s just going to happen more and more.” He added that there are still many more first responders, in fact, thousands of them, who are sick.
Adding a tone of righteous irony, he said “This country just says, ‘That’s fine. We’ll just wait another 15 to 20 years and you’ll all be dead and we’ll all be sorry. This country is [or should be] better than that.”
In fact, in an article I’d written, 9/11’s second round of slaughter, I reviewed a documentary film Dust to Dust, by Heidi Dehncke-Fisher, that detailed with incredible accuracy, just what these first responders were up against.
Until we begin truly holding public officials accountable for their actions, our Brothers will continue to die needlessly. It is disgusting and unacceptable that so many of our Brothers died for a politician’s personal gain. We have to let our public officials know we will not stand for this, and we will never rest until they take responsibility for their crimes.
“The president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, Kevin Gallagher, held a news conference to urge Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and the City Council to conduct the investigation, saying he was deeply concerned for firefighters’ safety.”
“On Wednesday, the department’s 2,700 new radios were taken out of service. Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen had said that he was taking the action because a distress call from a firefighter trapped in a burning house in Queens on Monday went unheard by some of his colleagues.”
“We should not have New York City firefighters out in dangerous life-threatening situations with faulty or untested equipment,” said Mr. Gallagher, whose union represents the city’s 8,000 firefighters.”
“Let’s put blame where it belongs, starting with an outside investigation into who in the Fire Department ordered or authorized the purchase of these radios and who made the decision to put them into the field without a proper evaluation of this essential life-saving equipment,” he said.
“Mr. Gallagher’s said his concerns were in some measure intensified by inconsistencies between statements Mr. Von Essen made at a news conference the commissioner held Wednesday and details that emerged later about the contract.”
“Mr. Von Essen said at the news conference that the contract for the new radios was worth $4.5 million and that fire departments in Boston and Chicago were using the same product. But a report Friday night by WNBC-TV News said that the overall contract for the new Motorola digital communications network was worth $33 million and that the other cities’ departments did not use the system.”
Fire Officials Admit Procedural Lapse in Putting New Radios Into Service
New York Times - April 11, 2001
“Fire officials acknowledged at a City Council hearing yesterday that they had failed to follow a safety protocol developed after the deaths of two firefighters when they decided to buy $15 million worth of new hand-held radios that later had to be withdrawn from service.”
“The protocol directs the Fire Department to test new safety equipment fully and to consult the department unions before putting it into service. The system was developed by the Department of Investigation in 1980 after two firefighters died when a new type of safety rope snapped at a Manhattan fire.”
“And the report suggested that the department’s internal investigation into the radios was misguided. “It has been 20 days since the F.D.N.Y. commissioner’s decision to recall the XTS3500R digital radios,”" the report said, “and the F.D.N.Y. has yet to interview key witnesses or release any results of its reported investigation.”
“Fire Dept. to Start Reissuing Radios Pulled Last Year”
New York Times - August 6, 2002
“The Fire Department will begin reissuing new, but controversial, handheld radios to firefighters on Staten Island later this month and, if all goes well, will distribute them citywide in the fall, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said yesterday.”
“The city had pulled the radios from service in March 2001, and resumed using older equipment, after a firefighter’s call for help during a Queens fire went unheard. But the performance of the older equipment on Sept. 11 has been criticized by some fire officers who say communication problems that day contributed greatly to the deaths of 343 firefighters.”
“Many firefighters, some using radios as much as 10 years old, apparently did not hear an evacuation order transmitted before the twin towers collapsed, a consultant for the city has concluded.”
“Panic and chaos on new tapes from 9/11″
San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, August 17, 2006
“Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani testified several years ago that the firefighters who died were “standing their ground” to help victims.”
“But the release of the tapes Wednesday reinforced what earlier tapes, investigations and a new book — “Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11″ — have made clear: that Giuliani and his top aides did not put in place a clear chain of command for police officers and firefighters, which led to much confusion at the scene. And firefighters never heard calls to leave because they carried outmoded radios that did not work inside the stairwells of the burning towers.”
“After the South Tower collapsed, pilots in police helicopters used their radios to warn that the North Tower, too, was near collapse. But most of the 121 firefighters who died in the North Tower never heard those broadcasts. Indeed, some firefighters were not even aware that the South Tower had fallen.”
NYC Council Report
Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services
Oversight: The Procurement, Distribution and Testing of Digital Two-Way Radios by the Fire Department - April 10, 2001
“On March 14, 2001, the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) issued new Motorola XTS3500R digital two-way radios (commonly referred to as “handie-talkies”) to firefighters throughout the City. On March 19, 2001, while firefighter Luke Healy was battling a fire in the basement of a home on Myrtle Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens, his oxygen tank began to expire. As Healy attempted to exit the basement, his oxygen tank ran out. Initial reports indicated that Healy’s seven Mayday calls went unheard by firefighters at the scene and that they were only alerted to his need for assistance after a firefighter at another location, ten blocks away, heard a Mayday call from Healy. Subsequently, FDNY documents revealed that Deputy Chief Weinlein, who was at Myrtle Avenue, reported that he and another FDNY official at the scene heard a Mayday, but that when he used the radio to ask who transmitted the Mayday, no one answered. According to Deputy Chief Weinlein, Healy was eventually found by officers who heard his calls for help from the basement, not over the radio. On March 21, 2001, the FDNY announced that the following day, the newly issued radios would be recalled from the field with the intention of addressing operational issues with the radios and returning them to service shortly.”
“Subsequently, it was revealed that during the eight days the new radios were in the field, firefighters experienced numerous problems with them, such as delays in transmission, messages not being received, messages getting cut off, and an echoing effect contributing to poor sound quality.”
“Thus, despite its acknowledgment two years earlier that several manufacturers were developing technology that might meet FDNY’s CAI specifications, and in apparent disregard of its pledge to evaluate new technologies and products, the FDNY appears to have elected to accept a radio representing an entirely new communications technology from Motorola rather than conduct a competitive review of products and prices.”
“Compounding its failure to subject this new communications technology to a competitive procurement process, the FDNY also exceeded the 1997 contract’s ceiling on the number of radios to be procured (750 units) and the amount of the contract, $2.9 million. In December 1999, the FDNY ordered 2,700 XTS3500R radios from Motorola, and in 2000, ordered another 1,118 radios. The total cost for the 3,818 radios was approximately $14 million.”
“All information provided to date indicates that the XTS3500R’s were not adequately tested to ensure that they would meet the FDNY’s operational needs, and that FDNY firefighters and officers were not sufficiently trained in operating the new radios.”
“The FDNY has stated that its Rescue 2 unit tested the radios from July 23, 1999, to August 1, 1999. However, although the Rescue 2 unit tested an analog, VHF model of the XTS3500R, the FDNY purchased a digital, UHF model. Thus, the Rescue 2 unit never tested the radios or technology subsequently purchased by FDNY.”
Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani And 9/11 (Amazon)
By Wayne Barrett & Dan Collins
Chapter 7, Sounds of Silence
A thorough examination of The City’s sole bid process with Motorola as well as their failure to replace archaic radios with appropriately tested radios which subsequently lead to miscommunications and loss of lives on the morning of September 11, 2001.
THE WORLD TRADE CENTER BOMBING: REPORT AND ANALYSIS
U.S. Fire Administration/Technical Report Series (pdf)
February 1993
“A major detriment to our ability to strengthen control of the incident was fire department on-scene communications. Communications were a serious problem from the outset.”
“Generally the problems were caused by one or more of the following factors:
The number of resources using channels;
Not enough channels for operational areas;
Distance problems - lost messages;
The inability to contact other agencies.”
“Fireground communications have become a major concern of FDNY…”
- Sec 2:6
THE UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF MAYORS INTEROPERABILITY SURVEY
A 192-City Survey (pdf)
June 2004
“The United States Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more.”
“Our new survey finds that more than 77 percent of the cities in the survey are interoperable across police and fire departments.”
“As the end of the president’s term in office mercifully draws closer, his proposed budget is another example of his words not matching his deeds.
President Bush says he wants to protect Americans, but his budget proposal proves his words are meaningless. Once again, he has proposed eliminating or drastically reducing funding for important programs that make our neighborhoods, our citizens and our country safer.
A president interested in protecting Americans would not cut funding for the Homeland Security Department’s first responder grant programs. President Bush is surprisingly ignorant of the value that the FIRE Act and SAFER grants provide to the smallest towns and the largest cities across this country.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that President Bush is no friend of fire fighters because is a repeat offender. The president’s budget proposal for Fiscal 2009 proposes merely $300 million for the FIRE Act, the same amount he proposed in his Fiscal 2008 budget. He also proposes eliminating SAFER grant programs, just as he did in his Fiscal 2008 budget.
With his short-sighted budget proposal, President Bush has ignored the wishes of Congress, which made a very strong bipartisan statement last year when it saved the SAFER grant program and boosted funding for the FIRE Act. In the end, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle understood the value of the first responder grant programs, appropriating $560 million for the Fire Act and $190 million for SAFER grants.
The IAFF will again work with Congress to restore funding to the Homeland Security Department’s first responder grant programs and protect Americans, despite President Bush’s attempt to eviscerate our nation’s security.”
What has happened to the rescue workers from 9/11?
Over several months, approximately 40,000 rescue workers helped at Ground Zero, and all were exposed to caustic dust and toxic pollutants. The workers included firefighters, police officers as well as a wide variety of construction, utility and public sector workers.
The largest health study ever conducted of rescue and recovery workers was done by Mount Sinai School of Medicine. They examined 9,442 responders between July 2002 and April 2004. Of those examined, 69% reported new or worsened respiratory symptoms since working at ground zero. Among the workers that had not had any health issues before 9/11, 61% had developed respiratory symptoms. Twenty-eight percent had abnormal spirometry (meaning the measuring of breath); 21% were low in forced vital capacity (FVC) (maximum volume of air that a person can exhale); and obstruction was present in 5%. Among nonsmokers, 27% had abnormal spirometry compared with 13% in the general U.S. population. Prevalence of low FVC among nonsmokers was 5 times greater than in the U.S. population (20% vs. 4%). Respiratory symptoms and spirometry abnormalities were significantly associated with early arrival at the site.The frequency of sarcoidosis or Bensnier-Boeck disease, an immune system disorder characterized by non-caseating granulomas (small inflammatory nodules), was increased among FDNY rescue workers by 47%, compared to firefighters 15 years before the 9/11.
WTC responders had exposure-related increases in respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function tests abnormalities that persisted up to 2.5 years after the attacks. Long term medical monitoring is required to track persistence of these abnormalities and identify late effects, including possible malignancies.
What Where the Exposures?
The thousands of tons of toxic debris resulting from the collapse of the Twin Towers consisted of more than 2,500 contaminants, more specifically: 50% non-fibrous material and construction debris; 40% glass and other fibers; 9.2% cellulose; and 0.8% asbestos, lead, and mercury. There were also unprecedented levels of dioxin and PAHs
from the fires which burned for three months.So what about health care from the government?
Rescue workers that are sick or injured as a result of working at Ground Zero are finding it 10 times harder to receive compensation than the average injured worker.
The Bush Administration has continuously promised more money to help ease the burden, but have consistently taken the money out of the budget. In 2006 $125 million was taken back.
International Association of Fire Fighters General President Harold Schaitberger issued a statement on President Bush’s proposed Fiscal Year 2009 budget, “President Bush says he wants to protect Americans, but his budget proposal proves his words are meaningless. Once again, he has proposed eliminating or drastically reducing funding.”
http://www.iaff.org/08News/020508Bush.htm These selfless individuals rose up in the time of need to help others. Now their health, jobs and lives are being compromised because of their bravery. If the government isn’t going to provide compensation for these people for basic health care then it is necessary that we rise up and come to their aid.
