Workers' Compensation: Lung screening looks for lasting health effects from Hurricane Sandy

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Lung screening looks for lasting health effects from Hurricane Sandy

Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from www.nj.com

Denise Hansen says that ever since Hurricane Sandy struck 10 months ago, she’s always tired, has had a lung infection and contracted a cough she never had before.

Exposed to mold for 7½ months even while she was displaced from her storm-ravaged home in Ortley Beach, Hansen wonders whether she’s developed what some are calling "Sandy Lung," from breathing in all kinds of unknown irritants unleashed by the storm.

So Hansen, along with more than 100 others, showed up at Toms River High School East yesterday to participate in an extensive screening for potential respiratory problems suspected of being brought on or exacerbated by Sandy.

"What also makes me nervous is they’re knocking homes down around me. I wonder what’s in the air," said Hansen, who was assured her lungs are clear. "Ten years from now, who knows? That’s what’s scary."

Because thousands of people like Hansen who are rebuilding post-Sandy may have been exposed to mold, asbestos and other potential toxins, the Deborah Heart and Lung Center — with a $625,000 grant from the Robin Hood Relief Fund — has been conducting free respiratory screenings in Ocean County to try to head off serious illness in the future.

After filling out a questionnaire, participants were directed to one of two folding tables where staff waited to take their blood pressure and slip a device on their index finger that uses light waves to measure the level of oxygen in their...

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.