9/11 Outreach and Education about the WTC Health Program

• The World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program (funded by the federal government) provides free health monitoring to people exposed to the 9/11 attack sites and decontamination locations
• First responders who were there qualify for health monitoring, even without any diagnosis of illness
• Civilian survivors who lived or worked in the Downtown Manhattan exposure zone (south of Canal Street) qualify for the same free monitoring once any 9/11-related condition has been diagnosed, even if it was seemingly minor or appears to have resolved
• If medical care and treatment by the WTC Health Program becomes necessary, that care is also provided, completely free, to first responders and civilian survivors who were in the exposure zones during the time at issue.
• We will review your eligibility for the WTC Health Program at no charge
• We will educate you and/or your office, agency, division, union local or other group about the WTC Health Program, on-line or in person, at no charge
• We will assist you in completing and submitting your WTC Health Program registration application at no charge
• You do not need to make a claim to the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund in order to receive our assistance, at no charge, in applying for registration with the WTC Health Program to have your health monitored and/or to receive treatment for a 9/11-related condition or illness
  

Turken, Heath & McCauley, LLP, is available to conduct one-on-one or group outreach and education seminars upon request and at absolutely no cost. Many first responders and other workers who participated in the rescue, recovery and clean-up efforts on and after 9/11/2001—not only at the attack sites but also at remote decontamination locations—remain unaware that they are entitled to be registered to have their health regularly checked and monitored, for free, by the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program. This includes those who heroically descended upon Ground Zero after the attacks from all points around the country, those who worked at the other two attack sites (Shanksville and the Pentagon), and those who worked at decontamination sites such as the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island and barges used to carry away 9/11 debris. First responders do not need to have been diagnosed with an illness, or even suspect an illness, in order to qualify for free health monitoring. They need only to have been in the exposure zone during that terrible period when toxic smoke, dust and chemicals caused or released by the fires and building collapses still permeated the air.

For civilian survivors who lived or worked in the Manhattan exposure zone, south of Canal Street (in stores, restaurants, office buildings, etc.), the same free health monitoring by the WTC Health Program is available once any 9/11-related condition has been diagnosed, even if that particular condition is not life-threatening or has already been treated and seemingly resolved. Just the fact of that first diagnosis entitles the exposed survivor to free health monitoring, thereafter, for that particular condition and all the other ones recognized by the WTC Health Program —including but not limited to many lung diseases and dozens of types of cancer—as being associated with the 9/11-related toxic exposure.

Further, in the event that a 9/11-related diagnosis is made, the medical treatment which is then available through the WTC Health Program to first responders, 9/11 workers and all other survivors determined to have been in the exposure zone, is also free.

Clearly, the odds of being successfully diagnosed and treated for any of the medical conditions, aerodigestive disorders, types of cancer, and mental health conditions considered to be 9/11-related are improved by starting as soon as possible to get medically monitored by the WTC Health Program professionals who know what signs, symptoms and illnesses to look for. In dollar terms, the considerable medical services available for free from the WTC Health Program to people who were in the exposure zone on 9/11/2001, or during the several months that followed, are extremely valuable. But the peace of mind and reduction of risk (given the improved likelihood of earlier diagnosis and treatment) offered by the Program is, very simply, invaluable.

Turken, Heath & McCauley, LLP, has been and remains committed, at no charge, to conducting affirmative outreach phone calls, meetings and seminars to identify and educate people entitled to the free monitoring and healthcare offered by the WTC Health Program, and to get them connected to and registered with that program, including directly assisting with the registration process in order to make it easy. We have met with prospective WTC Health Program enrollees at their homes and offices, and presented educational seminars about it at auditoriums, firehouses, union halls, police stations, trooper barracks, and other venues. Receiving our assistance with this does NOT require having or making a claim to the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. If you were in the exposure zone during the applicable period, but are not now and have not previously been ill, then you simply don’t need a 9/11 VCF compensation claim; however, you may qualify to have your health monitored by the WTC Health Program for free, and to receive treatment for a 9/11-related condition for free. We can help you—also for free—to establish your qualification and get you registered with the WTC Health Program.

For assistance establishing your qualification and registering with the WTC Health Program, or to schedule a personal or on-line meeting or a personal or on-line educational seminar (“an outreach”), about the health monitoring or other services available to you, your employees or members, or any group likely to include individuals who had the above-described exposure, please contact Jeannie Kelly (NYPD, retired), our Director of 9/11 Outreach & Education (at 516-307-7965); firm partner Matthew McCauley, Esq. (NYPD, retired) (at 914-363-6355), or; legal assistant Chelsea Wilson (at 914-363-8637).