9/11 Still Taking a Toll on First Responders

First responders to the 9/11 attacks are still paying a price for that day:

Nine years have passed since Al Qaeda orchestrated the deadliest attack ever on U.S. soil, claiming nearly 3,000 lives.

But reports from the New York State Health Department suggest the carnage may not have ended that day.

More than 800 responders to the World Trade Center ruins have died -- some, advocates say, from illnesses related to their heroic efforts. One advocate says the actual total of deaths is likely higher -- and growing.

The data is a sobering reminder of the human toll that the tragedy is still taking as the nation prepares to mark the ninth anniversary Saturday of the 9/11 attacks.

According to the New York State Health Department, 836 responders have died as of June 2009, the most recent year of data available.

But in the last year, health officials have only confirmed 813 deaths after reviewing death certificates, autopsies or medical records as of June 2010.

Health officials couldn't conclude that any of the deaths occurred as a result of their response to the attacks because the study was short-term.

Of the 836 deaths, more than 20 percent were deemed by health officials as "traumatic," including exposure to harmful substances or environments, car accidents or assaults. The other 80 percent were from illness, the study found.

I've heard that many first responders later developed pulmonary fibrosis, the lung disease which took my father almost a year ago. No one really knows what starts it, but once it develops it's 100% fatal. Exposure to the dust and debris at Ground Zero undoubtedly contributed to their disease.