title: The impact of the World Trade Center attack on FDNY firefighter retirement, disabilities, and pension benefits.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Our goal was to examine the effect of the World Trade Center (WTC) attack and subsequent New York City Fire Department (FDNY) rescue/recovery activities on firefighter retirements. We also analyzed the financial impact associated with the increased number and proportion of service-connected "accidental" disability retirements on the FDNY pension system.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 7,763 firefighters retired between 9/11/1994 and 9/10/2008. We compared the total number of retirements and the number and proportion of accidental disability retirements 7 years before and 7 years after the WTC attack. We categorized WTC-related accidental disability retirements by medical cause and worked with the New York City Office of the Actuary to approximate the financial impact by cause.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the 7 years before 9/11 there were 3,261 retirements, 48% (1,571) of which were accidental disability retirements. In the 7 years after 9/11, there were 4,502 retirements, 66% (2,970) were accidental disability retirements, of which 47% (1,402) were associated with WTC-related injuries or illnesses. After 9/11, the increase in accidental disability retirements was, for the most part, due to respiratory-related illnesses. Additional increases were attributed to psychological-related illnesses and musculoskeletal injuries incurred at the WTC site. Pension benefits associated with WTC-related accidental disability retirements have produced an increased financial burden of over $826 million on the FDNY pension system.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The WTC attacks affected the health of the FDNY workforce resulting in more post-9/11 retirements than expected, and a larger proportion of these retirees with accidental disability pensions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Niles
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Webber
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gustave
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zeig-Owens
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Glass
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Weiden
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Prezant
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D061388:Firefighters / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D010415:Pensions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012179:Retirement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*