Hidden EMS Deaths of the World Trade Center Gain Notice

January 17, 2006 -- While NYPD Detective James Zadroga valiantly fought the Ground Zero illness that took his life last week, two city EMTs died in virtual anonymity of similar ailments.

EMT Timothy Keller, 41, died June 23, 2005; EMT Felix Hernandez, 31, died Oct. 23, 2005. Family, friends and colleagues are now coming forward to talk about the life-threatening risks Ground Zero workers face.

"There is no doubt in any of our minds that there is a direct correlation between their deaths and their participation at Ground Zero," said Don Faeth, vice president of the Uniformed Emergency Medical Technicians & Paramedics -- FDNY, Local 2507.

Keller, who worked out of Station 50 in Flushing, arrived at the World Trade Center soon after the terror strikes and remained there for 12 hours searching for victims.

Within days, he began hacking up black phlegm.

"It always sounded like he was coughing," said EMT Sherri Feibert. "It was very noticeable."

The journal Environmental Health Perspectives reported that almost a third of workers involved in the WTC cleanup and recovery experienced a chronic cough that began shortly after employment at the site. Twenty-four percent reported new onset of phlegm production and 18 percent reported new onset of wheezing, its May 2004 report found.

Both Keller and Hernandez were nonsmokers -- but their debilitating respiratory ailments came on steadily after working at the WTC site.

In the three years after 9/11, Keller experienced seizures, developed sinusitis and suffered from severe chronic asthmatic bronchitis. In September 2004, he filed for workers' compensation -- and was denied.

He applied for a disability retirement in November 2004, which he was granted two months later.

"Had they [the city] not cut his medical benefits, he would have been able to pay for his medication, and maybe he'd be here right now," said his son, David, 19, a volunteer fireman in Levittown, L.I.

The 16-year EMS veteran finally received $10,017 in June. Two weeks later, he died.

The saga of EMT Hernandez, assigned to Station 17 in the Highbridge section of The Bronx, is tragically similar.

Hernandez, who was with the department for eight years, took a July 2004 medical leave and ultimately moved to Kissimmee, Fla., where he lived out his last days.

To this day, Hernandez's family shies away from drawing attention to his heartbreaking death.

erika.martinez@nypost.com