As a Type 1 incident commander in 2001, Mike Lowry answered the call and led a 40-person team to Ground Zero in the days after 9/11. A few years later he became ill.
FAIRVIEW, Ore. — Mike Rowley, a lifelong first responder and longtime incident commander in Oregon, answered the call in 2001 and went to Ground Zero with his team in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Compatible with
More than 20 years later, like many people, he is facing serious and potentially fatal health problems. Lowry told KGW that despite his service after 9/11, it was an uphill battle for him and other first responders and survivors to finally secure the benefits promised by the federal government. Told.
“I have held command positions with the U.S. Forest Service since 1989, first as a Type 2 Incident Commander and then as a Type 1,” he explained. “Type 1 is the highest level you can get…and we have 16 interagency Type 1 teams in the United States that go all over the country and respond to disasters.”
His career has taken him to disaster sites across the country. From hurricanes in the east to wildfires in the west. In September 2001, just 10 days after the 9/11 attacks, he and his 40-person team were deployed to Manhattan, New York.
For 30 days, they worked with New York’s best paramedics and other first responders to set up warehouses, stock up on supplies and develop plans.
“It was an honor to just help people, especially our fellow firefighters, and just do what we can to help everyone,” Laurie said.
Mr. Rowley said that Ground Zero, what its crews called “The Pile,” and how it burned for days and days as firefighters and other responders transitioned from rescue to recovery missions. I remember continuing.
“If you go there at night, you can see it,” Laurie recalled. “I could see particles and dust everywhere.”
The image remained etched in his mind for years afterward, as his health began to suffer.
“I was diagnosed with the disease much later, but then it became a boom,” he said.
It was a lung disease, or fibrosis. The situation has deteriorated rapidly in recent years. He relies on his oxygen tank 24/7.
“People don’t understand what it’s like…somebody’s sitting on your chest or something and you can’t get enough air,” he explained.
When I returned from that mission and reached out to my team, I learned that many of them were facing similar health issues.
“If you look into health issues, 25 percent of the people who went to the World Trade Center with me either died, had a similar illness to me, or had cancer,” he said.
uphill
As her condition worsens, Laurie requires a double lung transplant. He hopes to receive his certification after undergoing a series of tests at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix. But just getting to this point—getting approval or pre-approval for testing—was exasperating, frustrating, and time-consuming. He said it took months to get the right people to approve it.
“Well, if you die in the meantime… if your time is limited, ‘it’s not my problem.’ They just don’t care,” said the contractor responsible for administering his benefits. he said of MCA-Sedgwick’s attitude.
MCA-Sedgwick provides National Provider Network (NPN) services. According to its website, NPN is a network of health care providers across the country that provides World Trade Center-related health care to program participants who live outside the New York metropolitan area and prefer local treatment.
“This program is not health insurance. It only provides limited benefits for certain conditions covered by the program,” said Benjamin Shubat, the association’s executive director. 9/11 Health Watch, a nonprofit advocacy and monitoring organization.
Chebat explained that in the short period that MCA-Sedgwick had a contract with the government starting in late summer 2022, members encountered a series of problems.
“They couldn’t answer the phone and had to wait for hours,” he said. “There were real issues with their network. Again, it’s called the National Provider Network in the title, but their network wasn’t as good as their previous network. In terms of service delivery. There were a lot of different issues.”
Laurie and his wife Teresa Bright took their complaints to the top and contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. WTC Health Program It is a division of CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
“We had to go to their bosses. We had to go to the CDC to get them to really hold their feet to the fire to get something done,” Lowry said. said.
“If Mike hadn’t had me represent him, he probably wouldn’t have even been evaluated for a lung transplant. He wouldn’t have been able to fight Sedgwick and get what he needed,” Bright added. Ta.
The problem was eventually resolved by having the CDC investigate the delays, but they told KGW they had faced medical issues since 9/11 and relied on this contractor for life-saving benefits. He said he was worried about the people of the country.
“We are aware that some members of the National Provider Network (NPN) are experiencing issues accessing care in the WTC Health Program,” the CDC told KGW in a statement.
“The WTC Health Program continues to actively collaborate with Managed Care Advisors (MCAs) to optimize the services they provide, resolve member concerns, and ensure continued performance improvement.” said the department.
KGW has not heard a direct response from MCA-Sedgwick.
For Laurie, developing properly functioning lungs won’t happen anytime soon. He wants to get back to what he’s been doing all his life, like skiing, hunting, and fishing. At least he wants to take his dog Zorro for a walk around the neighborhood.
But when asked if he had any regrets and if he wished he hadn’t gone to Ground Zero, he replied:
“No, I’d like to do it again, even though I know the outcome.”
The CDC says it encourages individual members who are experiencing difficulty receiving NPN care to contact the WTC Health Program at: Please contact [email protected] or call the Program Call Center at 1-888-982-4748.
Chebat of 9/11 Healthwatch told KGW that his organization can also help.In addition to articles and resources posted online, the website includes Portal where members can directly submit questions or concerns to his team.
