New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System has received $2.4 million from the CDC to study how to best care for aging 9/11 first responders.
In 2010, Mount Sinai established the World Trade Center Health Program to monitor the condition of 9/11 survivors and responders. The health system's clinical Center of Excellence locations currently care for 22,000 first responders, according to a Sept. 8 news release from Mount Sinai. Data from the center has shown that one-third of 9/11 first responders meet the conditions for frailty and display a high prevalence of chronic disease.
The median age of first responders who are treated at Mount Sinai facilities is 59, and most will be 65 or older by 2030, the release said. World Trade Center responders are prone to premature aging, as they were exposed to high levels of toxic agents and experienced psychological trauma, according to the release.
The World Trade Center Health Program will use the grant to refine its frailty index — initially created in collaboration with Johns Hopkins' Center for Equity in Aging in Baltimore — and implement pilot interventions, according to the release.