Federal Bureau of Investigation issued the following announcement on April 29.
The death this month of yet another FBI employee who responded to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and a looming deadline for 9/11 responders to sign up for some health-related benefits is leading to renewed efforts inside the Bureau to make sure everyone who worked the expansive crime scenes in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania is plugged into the health resources available to them.
William “Homer” Lewis, an engineer and electronics technician at the FBI Academy, died April 3 after battling an illness attributed to his work at the Pentagon in the days and weeks after terrorists crashed an aircraft into the side of the building. Lewis, who joined the FBI in 1990, brings to at least 16 the number of FBI agents and professionals who have died from illnesses they incurred through work at or near the recovery and screening sites in lower Manhattan, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
“Our folks responded without concerns for themselves,” FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich said during a recent event at FBI Headquarters—and broadcast to all 56 field offices—aimed at spreading awareness about the need for 9/11 responders to register for available health care resources before it’s too late.
“If you hear nothing else I have to say, please register today,” Bowdich said. “We’ve lost too many good people, and I feel we are going to lose more.”
The federal government has several programs for affected 9/11 responders, including the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF). The WTCHP, which authorizes coverage through 2090, provides ongoing screening, monitoring, and treatment for certified conditions, and the VCF provides compensation to individuals—or their families if deceased—for certain injuries or conditions or deaths related to the 9/11 attacks.
Original source can be found here.
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