This Week in EMS: A Recap for Sept. 9-15, 2006

The topic on everyone's mind this week was of course the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. We pause to re-examine this historic day not only to remember those who gave their lives, but to bring focus to the issues that remain ongoing, in the related illnesses plaguing those who responded to the scene, and in our attempts as a nation to better prepare for the next big event.

An article this week by EMSResponder.com columnist Greg Santa Maria provided a poignant account of how the event has forever changed those who responded, and forever defined our entire generation. Greg responded to the attacks on the World Trade Center as a paramedic supervisor from St. Vincent's Manhattan Hospital.

In his article, Reflections from a 9/11 Paramedic: Always Something There to Remind Me, Greg shares the positive memories that can come from such a terrible event, and why we should want to remember.

Greg also notes that unfortunately, the contribution and sacrifice of EMS workers still tends to be left out of the many tributes toward those who responded on 9/11.

Let's take a moment now to remember those providers. According to a letter in the Syracuse, New York Post-Standard, in addition to the 343 firefighters, 37 New York Port Authority officers and 23 police officers, there were eight EMS personnel who died in New York City that day:

• Keith Fairben, a 24-year-old paramedic with New York Presbyterian Hospital who died in the South Tower while treating patients
• Yamel Merino, a 24-year-old EMT with MetroCare Ambulance and a single mother, who died while treating patients during the collapse of the South Tower
• Richard Pearlman, an 18-year-old volunteer with the Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corp., who died while treating patients in the South Tower
• Mario Santoro, a 28-year-old paramedic with New York Presbyterian Hospital who died in the South Tower, leaving behind a wife and 2-year-old daughter
• Mark Swartz, a 50-year-old EMT with Hunter Ambulance Service who died in the collapse of the South Tower as he was triaging patients
• David Marc Sullins, a 31-year-old EMT with Cabrini Hospital EMS, who died while triaging patients in the South Tower
• Carlos Lillo, a 37-year-old paramedic with FDNY EMS, who died in the collapse of the North Tower while treating patients
• and Ricardo Quinn, a 40-year-old paramedic with FDNY EMS, who died in the North Tower

Additional deaths have been attributed to illnesses faced by those who responded and breathed the air at the scene, and more may come, as we continue to learn the scope of those effects. More information about those deaths is available in the Line of Duty Death section on EMSResponder.com.

The latest development on this issue came this Thursday, when the CDC announced it will speed up its allocation of $75 million to the World Trade Center federal responders program to combat these health problems.

The other top public safety issue discussed in the news this week was the current state of communications, nationwide and in New York in particular, in the articles:

Communicating After a Disaster Still Isn't Easy

New York City Responders Get $500M Wireless Network

As we learned in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, our nation had not come as far as we hoped in terms of disaster preparedness, communication and coordination of resources.

To read an analysis of where we do stand on the five and one-year anniversaries of these two disasters, read the September feature article from EMS Magazine, Masters of the Ordinary.

In other news this week, there was a tragic loss in the Texas EMS community. East Texas Medical Center paramedic supervisor Joe Alvarez, Jr., 32, of Robinson died late Wednesday night when the ambulance he was driving slammed into the rear of a street sweeper.

News you can use:

Book Signings Added to EMS Expo Schedule

Two top EMS authors will be signing books at EMS Expo this month:

• Thom Dick will be available Wednesday, Sept. 27 from 1-2:30 pm.
• Robert Nixon will be available Thursday, Sept. 28 from 12-1:30 pm.

Look for signs at EMS Expo to find these events, and stop by to meet these esteemed EMS educators.

For more information about EMS Expo 2006 in Las Vegas, visit www.emsexpo2006.com. To find and purchase books by these authors online, visit www.emsbooks.com.

Related Links on 9/11:

• CDC Speeds Up Funds for WTC Federal Responders
• Masters of the Ordinary; For EMS, the fifth anniversary of 9/11 is less about major disasters than surviving day by day
• A Message on 9/11 from the Publisher of EMS Magazine
• Firehouse.com: Remembering 9/11
• Commentary: Amid Dust of Sept. 11, EMS Chief Sensed Trouble in the Air
• Hearing Addresses WTC Health Problems
• Study: Lung Problems Rife Among WTC Responders
• White House Vows to Aid Ill 9/11 Workers
• NYC Issues 9/11 Medical Guidelines
• Experts: Dramatic Lung Aging for NYC 9/11 Responders
• Health Troubles Persist For 9/11 Rescue Workers
• Health Officials Begin Follow-Up for 9/11 Registry
• Study: Medics' Kids Most Shaken By 9/11
• 9/11 Sucks 12 Years From Rescuers' Lungs
• 9/11 Workers See Hope, Fear in Autopsy
• Autopsy Spurs Calls for 9/11 Health Care
• Few Answers for Sick 9/11 Workers
• NYC Releases 9/11 WTC Emergency Calls
• FDNY Medic Succumbs to Post 9/11 Cancer
• Many Still Living with Health Effects from 9/11
• FDNY EMT Dies From Injuries Suffered During 9/11 Response
• Judge Slams Ex-EPA Chief Over Sept. 11
• Within 7 Months, 3 September 11 Workers Die