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Air Today . . . Gone Tomorrow Article
9/11 First-Responders
Penn State Team Analyzes Effects of Inhaled Toxins
Penn State Live, October 27, 2004
University Park, Pa. -- It took first-responders several weeks to recover victims of the
Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center. Then they spent several more months cleaning up
the site. Now, they are coping with the health effects resulting from their heart-rending
work at Ground Zero.
"We think of police officers as being in physical danger from bullets and other kinds
of violence, not from inhaling toxins," said Rebecca Bascom, professor of medicine at
the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. "With the threat of terrorism, we
now have to worry about the lung and cardiovascular health of first-responders."
Bascom and a team from the Penn State College of Medicine are working with the Living
Heart Foundation to analyze heart and lung screening test results of more than 1,760
rescue and relief workers. Volunteer medical personnel from the foundation conducted the
screenings -- administering electro- and echocardiograms, checking blood pressure and
testing blood cholesterol. Robert Gillio, a Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
physician, trained screeners and provided pulmonary function screening for rescue workers.
With guidance from Bascom and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Healths
Paul Enright, Gillio also created an exposure and health history questionnaire to
accompany the clinical tests.
Mental stress, exhaustion and breathing difficulties
"The major problems we saw were mental stress, exhaustion, breathing difficulties,
hypertension and (manifestations of coronary artery disease)," said Arthur J.
Roberts, Living Heart Foundation president and chairman noted. Roberts added that
follow-up studies showed that mental stress and breathing difficulties persist, but more
cardiovascular research is needed to determine long-term complications.
Bascom and team members are looking for trends and information that will better prepare
the medical community to respond to future disasters. One promising area is the
possibility of using the data to develop a risk score for inhalation injuries, similar to
the burn score (first-, second- and third-degree), Bascom said. Doctors use the burn score
to quickly assess tissue damage, deliver appropriate treatment and determine prognosis. An
inhalation risk score (high, medium, low) could lead to a more precise diagnosis and
treatment plan, as well.
Team members have presented the results of their data analysis at a conference in New
York, and a narrative about the experience is in the book "Lessons Learned at Ground
Zero," written by Gillio and published by iUniverse. The book has been used by social
studies teachers, the U.S. Army War College and others.
http//live.psu.edu/story/8661
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