Injuries and Illnesses Treated at the World Trade Center, 14 September–20 November 2001

Abstract

Introduction:In response to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC), the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) deployed Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) and the Commissioned Corps to provide on-site, primary medical care to anyone who presented. Patients included rescue and recovery workers, other responders, and some members of the general public.Objective:A descriptive analysis of WTC-USPHS patient records was conducted in order to better understandthe short-term impact of the WTC site on the safety and health of individuals who were at or near the site from 14 September–20 November 2001.Methods:The Patient Treatment Record forms that were completed for each patient visit to these USPHS stations over the 10-week deployment period were reviewed.Results:Patient visits numbered 9,349, with visits peaking during Week 2 (21–27 September). More than one-quarter of the visits were due to traumatic injuries not including eye injuries (n = 2,716; 29%). Respiratory problems comprised more than one-fifth of the complaints (n = 2,011; 22%). Eye problems were the third most frequent complaint (n = 1,120; 12%). With respect to the triage class, the majority of visits fell into the lowest category of severity (n = 6,237; 67%).Conclusion:USPHS visits probably were skewed to milder complaints when compared to analyses of employer medical department reports or hospital cases; however, given the close proximity of the USPHS stations to the damage, analysis of the USPHS forms provides a more complete picture of the safety and health impact on those who were at or near the WTC site.

Mental Health Consequences of September 11: A Five-Year Review of the Behavioral Sciences Literature

“…Many articles reported on the physical injuries and respiratory illnesses caused by the hazards at the site. This article by Perritt and Boal (2005) is the only article selected in this bibliography because it gives an excellent overview of the medical attention provided as a response to the health and safety hazards created by the devastation and destruction of the WTC site.…”

Public Health Disaster Research: Surveying the Field, Defining Its Future

“…Frequent topics included disaster response and recovery system improvement, as well as the need to develop cross-jurisdictional or nontraditional partnerships 4–7. A small proportion of the literature was devoted to epidemiological and health services analyses (11.9%), which generally characterized the nature and types of injuries encountered in disasters or patterns of service utilization trends 8–13. An additional 20% of the literature focused on evaluating programs and policies, described or proposed operational guidelines or protocols, or reported on needs assessments principally related to workforce and organizational capacity.…”

The role of epidemiology in disaster response policy development

“…In the days immediately following the attacks, surveillance efforts on the human health impacts were initially focused on quantifying injuries and deaths[15–19], as well as monitoring for possible bioterrorist attacks[20, 21]. However, the initial high mortality among rescue and recovery workers[22], coupled with difficult environmental conditions, long shifts, and high emotional intensity [23, 24], drew international attention and funding to the issue of rescue/recovery worker health within the first 1–2 months.…”