When the WTC buildings collapsed on September 11, 2001, an estimated 250,000 to 400,000 people were immediately exposed to a noxious mixture of dust, debris, smoke, and potentially toxic contaminants in the air and on the ground, such as pulverized concrete, fibrous glass, particulate matter, and asbestos. Those affected included people residing, working, or attending school in the vicinity of the WTC and thousands of emergency response workers. Also affected were the estimated 40,000 responders who were involved in some capacity in the days, weeks, and months that followed, including personnel from many government agencies and private organizations as well as other workers and volunteers. A wide variety of physical and mental health effects have been observed and reported among people who were involved in rescue, recovery, and cleanup operations and among those who lived and worked in the vicinity of the WTC. Physical health effects included injuries and respiratory conditions, such as sinusitis, asthma, and a new syndrome called WTC cough, which consists of persistent coughing accompanied by severe respiratory symptoms. Almost all firefighters who responded to the attack experienced respiratory effects, including WTC cough, and hundreds had to end their firefighting careers due to WTC-related respiratory illnesses. The most commonly reported mental health effects among responders and others were symptoms associated with posttraumatic stress disorder—an often debilitating disorder that can develop after a person experiences or witnesses a traumatic event, and which may not develop for months or years after the event. Behavioral effects such as alcohol and tobacco use and difficulty coping with daily responsibilities were also reported. Several federally funded programs monitor the health of people who were exposed to the WTC attack and its aftermath. The monitoring programs vary in such aspects as eligibility requirements, methods used for collecting information about people’s health, and approaches for offering referrals. Of the four programs that offer medical examinations to WTC responders, the only one that is open to federal workers who responded to the disaster in an official capacity is the one implemented by HHS. (See table 1.) None of the monitoring programs receives federal funds to provide clinical treatment for health problems that are identified. The majority of federal funding for these monitoring programs was provided by DHS’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as part of the approximately $8.8 billion in federal assistance that the Congress appropriated to FEMA for response and recovery activities after the WTC disaster. One fiscal year 2003 appropriation specifically authorized FEMA to use a portion of its WTC-related funding for screening and long-term monitoring of emergency services and rescue and recovery personnel. Generally, however, FEMA may fund only short-term care after a disaster, such as emergency medical services, and not ongoing clinical treatment. FEMA entered into interagency agreements with HHS to fund most of these health monitoring programs. HHS is the designated lead agency for the public health and medical support function under the National Response Plan and is responsible for coordinating the medical resources of all federal departments and agencies. HHS’s Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness (OPHEP) coordinates and directs HHS’s emergency preparedness and response program. Three federally funded programs implemented by state and local governments or private organizations—the FDNY WTC Medical Monitoring Program, WTC Medical Monitoring Program (worker and volunteer program), and New York State responder screening program— have made progress in monitoring the physical and mental health of people affected by the WTC attack. Federal employees who responded to the WTC disaster in an official capacity were not eligible for these programs because it was expected that another program would be developed for them. The New York State program stopped providing examinations in November 2003, and state workers are now eligible for initial or continued monitoring through the worker and volunteer program. In general, the state program has not informed state responders that they are eligible for the worker and volunteer program. All three programs and the WTC Health Registry have collected information that could contribute to better understanding of the health consequences of the attack and improve health care for affected individuals. Officials from the FDNY, worker and volunteer, and WTC Health Registry programs are concerned that federal funding for their programs could end before sufficient monitoring occurs to identify all long-term health problems related to the WTC disaster. Three federally funded programs implemented by state and local governments or private organizations have provided medical examinations to identify physical and mental health problems after the WTC attack. (See table 2.) Two of these programs—the FDNY WTC Medical Monitoring Program and the worker and volunteer program—are tracking the health of WTC rescue, recovery, and cleanup workers and volunteers over time. The third program, the New York State responder screening program, offered one-time screening examinations to state employees, including National Guard personnel, who participated in WTC rescue, recovery, and cleanup work. Federal employees who responded to the WTC disaster in an official capacity were not eligible for any of these programs because it was expected that another program would be developed for them. The FDNY program completed initial screening for over 15,000 firefighters and emergency medical service personnel, and the worker and volunteer program completed initial screening for over 14,000 other responders. In both programs, screenings include physical examinations, pulmonary function tests, blood and urine analysis, a chest X-ray, and questionnaires on exposures and mental health issues. Both programs have begun to conduct follow-up examinations of participants and continue to accept new enrollees who desire initial screening. Current plans are to conduct a total of three follow-up examinations for each participant by 2009. As part of their federally funded activities, both programs provide referrals for participants who require treatment. FDNY employees and retirees can obtain treatment and counseling services from the FDNY Bureau of Health Services and the FDNY Counseling Services Unit, or they can use their health insurance to obtain treatment and counseling services elsewhere. The worker and volunteer program also provides referrals for its participants, including referrals to programs funded by the American Red Cross and other nonprofit organizations. The New York State program screened about 1,700 of the estimated 9,800 state workers and National Guard personnel who responded to the WTC disaster. Officials sent letters to these responders to inform them about the program and their eligibility for it. For each participant, the screening included a health and exposure questionnaire and physical and pulmonary examinations. Participants who required further evaluation or treatment after screening were told to follow up with their personal physician or a specialist. The program stopped screening participants in November 2003, in part because the number of responders requesting examinations was dwindling, and no follow-up examinations are planned. In February 2005, worker and volunteer program officials began to allow New York State responders to participate in that monitoring program. The officials determined that the worker and volunteer program would have sufficient funding to accommodate state workers who want to join the program. The state program has not notified the approximately 1,700 workers it has screened that they are now eligible for continued monitoring from the worker and volunteer program. Program officials relayed this development only to those state responders who inquired about screening or monitoring examinations following the decision to permit state responders to participate in the worker and volunteer program. Worker and volunteer program officials told us that, through August 2005, no state workers who responded to the WTC disaster in an official capacity had received examinations from the worker and volunteer program. According to worker and volunteer program officials, any state worker screened by the state program would need a new baseline examination through the worker and volunteer program because the screening data collected by the state program differ from the data collected in the worker and volunteer program. For example, the worker and volunteer program offers a breathing test not provided by the state program. In addition to providing medical examinations, these three programs—the FDNY program, the worker and volunteer program, and the New York State program—have collected information for use in scientific research to better understand the health consequences of the WTC attack and other disasters. A fourth program, the WTC Health Registry, includes health and exposure information obtained through interviews with participants; it is designed to track participants’ health for 20 years and to provide data on the long-term health consequences of the disaster (see table 2). Physicians who evaluate and treat WTC responders told us they expect that research on health effects from the disaster will not only help researchers understand the health consequences, but also provide information on appropriate treatment options for affected individuals. Both the FDNY program and the worker and volunteer program have been the basis for published research articles on the health of WTC responders. For example, the FDNY program reported on the injuries and illnesses experienced by firefighters and emergency medical service workers after responding to the attack. In addition, the worker and volunteer program published information on the physical and mental health of responders in 2004. Officials from both programs plan to publish additional findings as they track participants’ health over time. Although the New York State program has stopped offering examinations, program officials are continuing to analyze data from the program with plans for eventual publication. The WTC Health Registry program has collected health information through interviews with responders, people living or attending school in the vicinity of the WTC site, and people working or present in the vicinity on September 11, 2001. The registry completed enrollment and conducted interviews with over 71,000 participants by November 2004. Officials updated contact information for all participants in 2005, and they plan to conduct a follow-up health survey of participants in early 2006. Registry officials would like to conduct subsequent follow-up surveys periodically through about 2023—20 years after the program began in 2003—but have not yet secured funding for long-term monitoring. The registry is designed to provide a basis for research to evaluate the long-term health consequences of the disaster. It includes contact information for people affected by the WTC attack, information on individuals’ experiences and exposures during the disaster, and information on their health. In November 2004, registry officials published preliminary results on the health status of registry participants, and officials expect to submit several research papers for publication within the next year.