By Nick Buglione
According to D. Suhail Raoof, Nassau University Medical Center's chief of pulmonary and critical-care medicine, the hospital has treated about 800 rescue workers under its lung health testing program.
"The good news is that most of the people are responding well to treatment," Raoof said. "But this is the short term. We don't know what the long-term effects are going to be five, 10, 15 years down the road."
Raoof spearheaded NUMC's lung health testing program in December 2001, after receiving calls from police officers and firefighters complaining they were experiencing shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing after working at ground zero.
"These are very young people in their 20s, 30s and 40s," said Raoof, who has been with NUMC since 1990. "Many of them would jog three or four miles a day and they found that after their exposure the couldn't exercise as much."
Of the rescue workers treated so far, about 15 percent from Reactive Airways Dysfunction Syndrome (RADS), a condition that produces asthma-like symptoms, while 10 percent suffered from sinusitis.
It's likely these conditions resulted from breathing in smoke, asbestos, concrete dust, lead, dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other chemicals present in the air at ground zero.
In most cases, workers responded well to treatment with antibiotics, decongestants and inhaled steroids, Raoof said.
Raoof said, though, that the long-term effects could be far more serious. Chronic scarring of the lungs and instances of lung cancer and tumors, all possibilities from asbestos exposure, could surface years later.
That's why NUMC is urging rescue workers who have not been screened to come in and get checked out or visit another clinic.
"Given the potential for future problems, we need a baseline exam for every worker who participated in the ground zero rescue operation," Raoof said.
Raoof estimates over 200 more ground zero workers will be tested at NUMC before the year is over. "We're booked until three weeks into January," he said.
And though 800 workers have already been tested, thousands more still need to be examined, said state Fraternal Order of Police President Frank Ferreyra. Ferreyra's organization donated $100,000 toward funding the NUMC lung testing program last year and just recently kicked in an extra $50,000.
"I'm gratified at the response so far," Ferreyra said. "However, in view of recent revelations concerning the EPA's post-Sept. 11 air quality reports ... it is imperative that all rescue workers undergo the tests established at NUMC."
In recent weeks the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's statements that the air at ground zero was safe to breath shortly after the attacks have come under fire. In an interview with NBC Nightly News, Inspector General Nikki Tinsley said that the EPA didn't have enough information to make that assumption. She further charged that the White House changed EPA press releases, adding reassuring statements and omitting cautionary ones.
Located in a private suite on NUMC's 11th floor, the hospital's lung health testing program entails about an hour and a half of tests performed by five board-certified pulmonologists.
The patient first fills out a lengthy questionnaire, then receives a thorough physical exam, takes a breathing test to measure lung capacity and undergoes a chest x-ray.
If the tests come back negative and a patient is experiencing respiratory symptoms, he or she will take a Methacholine Challenge Test, which often reveals hidden asthma.
Upon completing the tests, the staff gives the patient an overall impression of the results and recommends a follow-up visit in six months.
To find out more about the program or to make an appointment, call (516) 572-1303. The Nassau University Medical Center is at 2201 Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow.
Breathe easy
Doctors are urging policemen, firefighters and other emergency workers who might have labored at ground zero in the weeks following the terrorist attacks to undergo a lung-health testing. The Nassau University Medical Center, at 2201 Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow, has a testing program specifically for ground zero rescue workers. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call (516) 572-1303.
