t’s been almost two-and-a-half years since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, and the memory of that day and the months-long recovery operation that followed may be starting to dim slightly. But the impact on the lives of the police officers and other personnel who worked the pit has yet to be felt to the maximum. Tragically, as time goes by we are going to see more and more health problems directly attributable to September 11, 2001, and its aftermath.

There was an unprecedented exposure of rescue workers to elements and compounds, some of which never existed before those superheated towers burned and collapsed. So the truth is, no one yet knows what will happen to those of us who spent days, weeks and months working in and near Ground Zero. That’s why it’s extremely important for anyone who was exposed at the Trade Center site to take advantage of the health tracking, assessment and referral plans that are out there. Unfortunately, some of those programs may have to cease accepting new clients in the near future.

One program facing the knife because of a lack of funding is the Mount Sinai Hospital World Trade Center Medical Screening program. Mount Sinai offers the most comprehensive screening of all the programs out there. The program is accepting new enrollees right now and will be able to do so until April 16. Beyond that, it’s a question of funding. So if you worked at the WTC site and haven’t enrolled in anything yet, now is the time. You can contact the Mount Sinai program at 1-888-702-0630. Do it before it is too late.

It should be made clear that the Mount Sinai program does not provide treatment. What it intends to do is focus on evaluating the condition of the participants, diagnosing current or potential problems and referring them to the appropriate specialist. The second part of the program is designed to monitor the health of the participants and come to some understanding of the problems experienced by the heroes of the aftermath of September 11th. The point is to explore the impact of this type of toxic catastrophe with an eye towards preventing future exposure.

You may have read in December about the governor’s veto of a presumptive disability bill for city and state workers who were exposed as a result of the Trade Center attacks. This is an important piece of legislation whose veto PBA President Pat Lynch called a “disgrace,” saying that the governor and the mayor have already forgotten those who risked their lives to help New York City recover.

The PBA, however, is not giving up on the 9/11 presumptive disability bill. The PBA and its union partners intend to redraft the bill so that it offers the guarantee of a line-of-duty disability to those of our members who become sick because of their work at the site, while satisfying the governor’s concerns that the legislation too broad. We believe that, with a little negotiation, we can achieve legislation that will protect our members’ health for the rest of their lives.