(Photo by Lerone Pieters via Unsplash.)
Twenty-one years after 9/11, more than memories of lost loved ones, family, and friends linger. Physical and mental health concerns for those who were directly impacted as they were volunteering to help with rescue efforts may become grim realities, especially after two decades.
Medical and financial resources have become available for those who were directly impacted and for those who lost loved ones on Sept. 11, 2001, and for the police officers, firefighters, and other first responders.
“The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) provides compensation to individuals (or a personal representative of a deceased individual) who were present at the World Trade Center or the surrounding New York City Exposure Zone; the Pentagon crash site; and the Shanksville, Pennsylvania crash site, at some point between September 11, 2001, and May 30, 2002, and who have since been diagnosed with a 9/11-related illness,” according to the VCF website.
“The VCF is not limited to first responders. Compensation is also available to those who worked or volunteered in construction, clean-up, and debris removal; as well as people who lived, worked, or went to school in the exposure zone,” VCF officials say. More information about the VCF and its deadlines can be found here: https://www.vcf.gov/deadlines
In addition, there are resources via the state of New York for the volunteers who helped New York City recover from the terrorist attack.
In fact, the State of New York’s Workers’ Compensation Board is urging people who volunteered for recovery efforts to meet a registration deadline of Sept. 11, 2022 by filling out form WTC-12. The link to the form can be found here: https://on.ny.gov/3Qu2Zhi .
Volunteers who participated in the rescue of the World Trade Center may not be showing any signs of illness now but symptoms may appear later. The registration form can facilitate a process that may prove extremely helpful in the future in getting care and benefits.
In addition, some volunteers may already be experiencing a “qualifying condition,” and the form lists the diseases and conditions that people could get from “a hazardous exposure during participation in World Trade Center rescue, recovery or clean-up operations.”
They are:
- Diseases of the upper respiratory tract and mucosae;
- Diseases of the lower respiratory tract;
- Diseases of the gastroesophageal tract;
- Diseases of the psychological axis, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, or any combination of such conditions;
- And the new onset of diseases via the exposure such as “cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asbestos-related disease, heavy metal poisoning, musculoskeletal disease, and chronic psychological disease.
Some of these medical conditions may take a while to manifest themselves, which is why officials want all eligible volunteers to register even if they have no symptoms. The snail mail address for NYS Workers’ Compensation Board Centralized Mailing Address: P.O. Box 5205, Binghamton, N.Y. 13902
Another organization, the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), a major municipal public employee defined benefit retirement plan for NYC clerical workers, accountants, social workers, and uniformed employees is also alerting its members who were 9/11 volunteers to register.
“NYCERS encourages all active, vested, or retired members (retired after 9/11/01) who participated in WTC Rescue, Recovery or Clean-up Operations between September 11, 2001, and September 12, 2002, to file a Notice of Participation Form #622 before September 11, 2022,” according to NYCER officials.
The link to form #622 can be found here: https://bit.ly/3d1VDUK
“While the original law required that you were a member during your period of participation, Chapter 424 of the Laws of 2021 amended this requirement to include public employees who became NYCERS members after the qualifying period who purchased some or all of that pre-membership period,” according to NYCERS.
NYCERS officials add that the form “is not a disability application. It is simply a statement indicating the dates and locations of your participation in these efforts. Filing your Notice of Participation will preserve your right to apply for disability retirement under the WTC Disability Law should you develop a Qualifying Condition or Impairment of Health in the future.”
NYCERS asks that completed forms be mailed to 30-30 47th Avenue, 10th Fl, Long Island City, NY 11101
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Beyond being an important registration deadline for 9/11 volunteers, September 11, 2022 is also a day to just stop and remember those we lost so suddenly. It’s important to step away from the day-to-day grind for a few minutes and focus on those wonderful people we knew and those we never got the chance to know. We must honor them by keeping their memory alive.
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