Thousands of 9/11 workers can now sue over illnesses

reply to post by IceHappy


Whatever happened to having a bit of common sense? Just because respirators were only recommended, doesn't mean they should not have taken a little initiative and worn them. Coal miners who don't want black lung wear respirators, even though they are working in hot, cramped conditions. Why wouldn't rescue workers?

reply to post by stevegmu


they should have but couldn't because they weren't supplied. they did their job and did it with what they had available.

the real irony is of course is that the masks could have been procured within hours but weren't.

reply to post by jprophet420


Who is to blame for this? The federal government? A friend of mine works for Fairfax Urban Search and Rescue, and they have no problem with equipment and supplies. They even have enough common sense to wear respirators.

"How has this been allowed to continue, this lack of support, this lack of medical attention and this lack of medication and the lack of honour toward these heroes for so many unbearable years?"

Because you are dealing with a country which lacks compassion for their fellow human being and uses people (heroes) to do their dirty work and then kicks them to the curb. Basically, they are bunch of lowlifes who are more interested in saving a buck instead of saving lives.
For how many years have they been doing the same thing to their brave war veterans. You're talking about a Government which took 17 years to admit that Gulf War Illness was real and not just a figment of the imagination of 200,000 soldiers.

newsblogs.chicagotribune.com...

[edit on 6-10-2009 by SphinxMontreal]

[edit on 6-10-2009 by SphinxMontreal]

Originally posted by stevegmu
reply to post by jprophet420

 

Who is to blame for this? The federal government? A friend of mine works for Fairfax Urban Search and Rescue, and they have no problem with equipment and supplies. They even have enough common sense to wear respirators.

You keep bringing up that fallacy and quite frankly its downright offensive. I have been trained as an ERT (emergency response technician) and I would not have been permitted to "go in" without a respirator. However if you are in an mass emergency situation, there is no respirator available to you, and your superior tells you it is safe, you have a choice. You can either choose not to participate in the rescue effort or you can. If you are told it is safe the choice is yours. Quit your job and let people die or help them. The reason they were told it was safe is so they would choose to help, and now the people that made the choice to lie to them need to suffer the consequences of that action.

posted by stevegmu
reply to post by jprophet420

 

Who is to blame for this? The federal government? A friend of mine works for Fairfax Urban Search and Rescue, and they have no problem with equipment and supplies. They even have enough common sense to wear respirators.

FEMA was there on site on 9-10-2001 ready to go into action the next day. It seems that as usual FEMA came unprepared or perhaps FEMA had an ulterior motive and another objective in mind.

Those were an emotive few days and weeks. A lot of the people who helped in the immediate aftermath were, as mentioned by a poster above, volunteers. I doubt that they would have the expertise to even ask if a respirator was necessary and would probably not ask questions if specifically told they wouldn't need one. Their efforts are worthy of admiration and they should surely be compensated.

However, I'm surprised that anyone even sees this as relevant to the 9/11 conspiracy discussion. Indeed I'm not sure what I find more disturbing - the conflation of defending the "government line" with defending their actions here, or the nasty kneejerk response of posters like Spreston, for whom everything is subordinate to their grubby agenda.

reply to post by TrickoftheShade
Hi Trick,
Anything to do with 9/11 carries the warning seen at the bottom of this page. If you click on it, it will take you to an explanation of why it is there. You are very correct in saying that anyone who got sick from working at Ground Zero, (which is the very nub of this thread) should be compensated. However this is where the law becomes an ass in regard to Asbestos in particular, (the original judge went to law for a cut-off date for claimants) because Asbestos accidently inhaled will do damage to you no matter what. Steve's post is misleading when he says Asbestos settles, it does not. Once disturbed from an inert form it is degraded continually into finer and finer particles and a puff of breath is enough to send it on its way, and to cause even more damage. In the twin towers case it is not just a case of say, factory workers being occupationally infected because of their workplace environment, (a main source of Asbestos poisoning in the past) it is more a case of anybody who was covered in the dust from the twin towers will be infected, and those people should be continually screened ad infinitum. By 2001 the effects of released Asbestos were well known. No official should have let anyone near ground Zero without even basic protection. For anyone who has got sick or died in the ensuing years to now after helping at Ground Zero I don't know, Asbestos poisoning usually takes a long time to manifest. Anyway i'm posting this link on Asbestos, it is a must read and we have to bear in mind the additional hazards from toxic materials that may have been present at Ground Zero, and surrounding areas.
www.opanoid.co.uk...

reply to post by smurfy


Thank you and a star to you Smurfy!

Let take this argument to the next stage.....

You are a volunteer worker like our poster above is jumping up and down about wearing a respirator of one type or another. At the end of the shift your clothes would be so covered in dust that when taking off the respirator to remove your t shirt before showering you will still inhale some particles. Any particles in the lungs and you have problems. Now are you going to burn those clothes? Or are you going to put them back on for the next shift?

Okay lets not go that far, you are tired and you need to sit down to take a break as you have been working your buns off. So on your break you take off your mask to cool down your face and you reach into your pockets or someone slaps you on the back for noticing your hard work or something special you did. Your mask is off but you are coated in particles...... Dust is now in the air you are breathing!

A coal minor has been to the pits so he knows about respirators. Chances the new kid to the coal mining pits that before his first day he has his seen his neighbour coming home or talking about his experiences or his father or uncle has been in the pits talks about it. Point is by the example of the coal miner the newbie has learnt before hitting the danger zone. From learnt experience the new on the job miner knows to wear a mask. Where was that learnt experience to protect our heroes on those sad days? The seasoned miner who showed the ropes as it were to the newbie.

Thats right, this is when we need government to overlook and give guidence - The Unknown known to quote one government man before congress! However the air was safe to breath said the head of the EPA! What about the clothes filled with dust when going home after the job??? If our heroes wife is going to put those contaminated clothes into the washing machine where was her protection as she bunches the clothes to put into the washer I can see another dust puff in the air....

Just like the union has union reps on the union shop floor looking to protect the not so clever or the junior workers - where was the government rep on the job site of NY to protect the lives and health of our brave volunteers. Where was the Health and Safety Officer on this job site?

Oh Yeah Bush wanted Wall Street back in action ASAP!

At whatever the costs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Edited for one typo

[edit on 10/9/2009 by IceHappy]