9/11 Coronavirus pandemic struggles with first responders and survivors

Americans are celebrating the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on Friday, but the commemorative event that allows first responders and survivors to gather and mourn is Coronavirus pandemic..

In addition to the pain associated with anniversaries, tens of thousands of first responders and survivors are particularly vulnerable to more severe cases of COVID-19. attack.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy last month The person who urged Wear a mask and attend a memorial service to practice social distance.

Meanwhile, the New York City Fire Department has become a member. Consider skipping the memorial serviceGiven the specific risk of getting infected with a virus. After the 9/11 Memorial and Museum stopped reading the victim’s name due to COVID-19 concerns, the tunnel to the Towers Foundation announced that it would read it. At the commemorative ceremony held at the World Trade Center, mourners wearing masks to extend their social distance gathered. Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence attended the ceremony.

The 9/11 Memorial and Museum also first canceled this year’s tribute inlight, where two rays hit the sky mark where the Twin Towers once stood. Overturned that decision After protests from the victims’ families and the masses.

Not being able to meet others in person at a commemorative event can be difficult for first responders and survivors, many already struggling with mental health issues as a result of the 9/11 experience. I am.

“Many people feel that the wall is approaching because the event has been canceled because of the pandemic, and we need to worry about mental health,” said John Feel, the first respondent on 9/11. Said in an interview with CBS News.

Feel is also not a milestone in the 19th anniversary, so the plight of the first 9/11 responders affected by the virus and their own existing health could be overlooked by the general public. Expressed concern that there is.

“If this is the 20th anniversary, more attention will be paid,” Feel said.

“My life has changed both physically and mentally.”

Earlier this year, Feel still felt it was important to take the pandemic seriously when the coronavirus seemed more of a threat to pass than the massive public health crisis affecting millions of Americans. I did.

He was the demolition supervisor at Ground Zero in New York City after the 9/11 attacks and developed gangrene after a steel beam fell on his leg.

Feal is a tireless defender of the other 9/11 survivors, FealGood FoundationIt is intended to assist the first responder injured in the job. Earlier this year, he recorded a video urging the first responders on 9/11 to take the pandemic seriously.

“In the first week of March, I was already wearing a mask before I became sexy,” Feel told CBS News in an interview. Despite the precautions he took, Feel was infected with the virus. It started with the transformation of the gastric virus into pneumonia and soon tested positive for COVID-19.

“Not only did my joints hurt, but my skin was also hurt. Not only was my skin hurt, but my hair was also hurt,” Feel said. “Everything hurts. Eyelashes hurts.”

Feel said doctors were given the option of staying in the hospital for treatment or going home. He didn’t want to die in the hospital, so he decided to go home. He lost his sense of taste and smell, which returned a few weeks later. He had a hard time speaking and sometimes felt unable to breathe.

“The most horrifying thing about this whole thing was that I couldn’t breathe, like someone holding my head underwater,” Feel said.

Feeling has recovered, but his life feels different, as was his injury at Ground Zero 19 years ago.

“I don’t feel the same. My life has changed, both mentally and physically,” he said. “After getting this illness, I don’t feel 100% where I was.”

Feel talked about the fear that all first responders and survivors felt about having some form of 9/11-related cancer and how the pandemic exacerbated that fear.

“Everyone in the 9/11 community is worried about when 9/11-related cancers will develop 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Feal said. “Everyone, including myself, is staring over the shoulder,” When will I get cancer? ” Now they are looking over their shoulders. “My Lord, when do I get cancer, when do we get COVID, when do I get both?”

“Why didn’t you prepare?”

This is not the first time the 9/11 community has addressed the federal government’s inadequate response to the issue. First responders and survivors had to lobby Congress for years to compensate for their injuries, many of whom died of 9/11-related illness during advocacy. ..

The first September 11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), established by the Bush administration between 2001 and 2004, only supported victims who were injured within 96 hours of the attack-September 2001. Excludes first responders such as Feal who were injured on the 17th of March. Feal has become one of the most prominent supporters of the 9/11 community. In 2011, President Obama signed the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of James Zadroga and resumed VCF.

The law was re-approved in 2015, allowing individuals to submit their claims to the VCF. However, in 2019, it became clear that VCF lacked funds to cover all claims filed. Feal, comedian Jon Stewart and other first responders have once again approached Congress to renew their funds.

In July 2019, President Trump signed the VCF Permanent Approval Act, extending the VCF claim filing deadline from December 18, 2020 to October 1, 2090, sufficient to cover all claims. I have allocated a lot of money. As of July 31, more than 55,000 people VCF..

The VCF will help not only the first responders, but also those who helped clean up the aftermath, and those who lived, worked, or went to school in the area.

Michael Barash’s law firm represents 20,000 9/11 first responders and survivors who became ill with 9/11 related illnesses. Barash told CBS News that he has lost more than 100 clients to COVID-19 since the pandemic began at his law firm alone.

“This is a really perfect storm,” Barash said, explaining how many of his clients are receiving chemotherapy for cancer or have potential respiratory illness. “And if they get it, they will be sentenced to death quite often.”

Many of his customers feel betrayed by the government, according to Barash. After September 11, the first responder was told by the then director of the Environmental Protection Agency that the air could breathe safely at Ground Zero. (Director, Christine Todd Whitman, later Admitted she was wrong I apologize for her comment. )

Federal government Disregarded The seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic in the early days of the pandemic as Barash exacerbated the crisis.

“Why didn’t we prepare? Why don’t we raise the level of government with us when things are really dangerous?” Barash said.

Dr. Benjamin Raft based in Long Island Stony Brook WTC Health and Wellness ProgramApproximately 10,000 people who responded to the initial response on 9/11 are treated and monitored, and the initial respondents in early spring are “extremely anxious and scared.”

“They thought it was almost a reproduction of what happened on 9/11,” Luft told CBS News in an interview, especially given the initial lack of personal protective equipment in hospitals. “I think I’m sensitive to improper protection, because they’re all burned at once and very careful,” he said.

Raft said his program was monitoring the prevalence and severity of the disease in first-time responders infected with the virus. He said the first responders still working were more likely to get infected, but the first retired responders know the precautions they must take to avoid contracts with the virus and their previous condition. Therefore, the infection rate is low.

Infection rates have fallen in New York, where most 9/11 first responders are based, but Luft said he needed to stay away from social distances and continue to wear face covers.

“I think they need to be vigilant. They have to keep getting smarter, keep practicing to keep their masks and social distance, and they have their own in terms of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I have to take care of it, “Luft said.

“Overcome this”

Daniel Monte was a Pentagon construction worker when he witnessed the crash of American Airlines Unit 77 into a building on September 11, 2001. He was then restructured in the Phoenix project and diagnosed with 9/11 related bladder disease. As a result, cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Monte, now based in Panama City Beach, Florida, told CBS News that he has been “hibernating” for months due to the threat of being infected with the virus.

“I always wash my hands, wear a mask, and don’t touch my face. I keep a social distance,” Monte said. His recent surgery for bladder cancer was also covered by VCF, which Monte Carlo praised as an incredible resource for 9/11 survivors.

He is frustrated about the mixed message from government officials about the best way to deal with the virus, and about the safety of resuming business and school.

“I’m at home because no one really knows how to handle this,” he said. “I hope someone can give me some basic information that covers what we should and shouldn’t do.”

Prolonged isolation has also hurt his mental health.

“It’s really difficult,” Monte said. “I am suffering from PTSD and isolation does not help.”

“It’s been a while since I really had the freedom, but whatever it takes to keep others safe is what I’m trying to do,” Monte added. “Overcome this.”

For more information on the Victim Compensation Fund, please visit vcf.gov.

VCF May provide compensation to individuals 9/11 related illnesses that die when the death certificate lists COVID-19 as the cause of death if the existing condition is listed as the underlying cause of death or a critical condition that contributes to death VCFs are individual We will review your allegations on a case-by-case basis.