Short Term and Long Term Effects on Rescuers from 9/11 - Book Report/Review Example

Such impacts were both physical and psychological, and extreme cases led to disability. This paper reviews the Perlman, et all’s article in relation to the short term and long term effects that the rescue team to the 9/11 disaster were exposed to. Findings The study aimed at establishing the health impacts of the attack on individuals, with particular interest on rescue personnel. In order to attain their objective, the authors reviewed published information with the aim of ascertaining established facts on the subject as well as identifying information gap in the subject to facilitate further research.

Its objective is therefore to facilitate comprehensive knowledge on the health impacts of the September 11, 2011 attacks. Its scope involved a preliminary research towards a problem statement and a final research on the unexplored impacts of the attack on the rescue team personnel that were involved in rescue mission, and other members of the public that were affected by the blast and its subsequent scene. This forms a basis for further research. The article’s methodology involved a review of secondary resources on the subject.

The researchers used PubMed as a resource centre for recruiting possible articles for review. In its search for articles, the research team used the time limit between September 11, 2001 and February 2011 as the first selection criteria. This was followed by application of key terms that referred to the attacks. Such terms included ‘September 11 terrorist attacks,’ ‘World Trade Centre,’ ‘WTC,’ and ‘September 11, 2011’. The obtained articles in the above selection criteria were then analyzed in line with other review articles on the subject before a final selection was made on the resources to be reviewed.

Even though the article does not explicitly state its research participants, this can be derived from its objective and its results. These illustrate the entire population that was exposed to the tragedy, either physically by presence within the immediate neighborhood of the World Trade Centre during and immediately after the attack or those who witnessed the devastating scene from the media. The rescue personnel that were involved in the tragedy forms a significant segment of the participants as the article reports on information about them.

One of the reported effects of the attacks is with respect to mental health. This was wide spread across the nation with stress as a short-term effect and mental disorders, in extreme cases, as long-term effects. The article also notes a significant increase in drug abuse among individuals who were closely associated with the blast scene, such as the rescue team. Respiratory illnesses are, however, the most widely reported physical impact of the blast. Reports about firefighters who were involved in the blast’s rescue mission for example reported developed difficulty in breathing.

This however stabilized with years to indicate that it was a short-term effect. Sarcoidosis is another short-term effect that the article reports among the involved rescuers. Long-term effects however include reported cases of developed asthma among individuals who were exposed to the blast’s dust and fumes. Such exposed individuals majorly include the rescue mission personnel. Gastro-oesophageal reflux symptoms is another categorical long term impacts that was registered among involved rescue personnel with consistency of the effects even after four years.