Founded After 9/11, FRCF Now Helps Against COVID

The horrific toll of September 11, 2001 inspired the creation of many charities to aid affected families. Twenty years on many of those charities have ceased operations, but the First Responders Children’s Foundation (FRCF; https://1strcf.org/) remains. Then as now, FRCF provides support to first responders and their families enduring financial hardship due to tragic circumstances, all funded by donations from the first responder community and public.        

Starting after 9/11, when more than 800 children lost parents, FRCF has provided millions of dollars in scholarships to hundreds of children, all of whom have lost parents in the line of duty. The need for such support is unending: Every year about 225 first responders are killed on the job, with each deceased parent leaving behind an average of 2.3 children.

With the onset of COVID-19, a new set of problems has beset the first responder community. Once again FRCF has stepped up to help.

“During the pandemic, the foundation is meeting the needs of first responders on the front lines who are risking their own health in service to others,” says FRCF Executive Director Scott Perrin. “For example, FRCF has paid for hotel rooms with meal stipends so first responders have not had to go home and potentially expose their families to the virus. FRCF has also distributed FDA-certified surgical masks to first responder agencies in every state and paid for COVID-related funerals for first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice.”

The Effects of Ground Zero

Joseph Scarpinito is one of the EMS professionals assisted by FRCF during COVID-19. He is a critical care paramedic with NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn, and his need for FRCF’s support is directly tied to his service at Ground Zero.

Having started his career as an EMT, Scarpinito subsequently joined the NYPD as a police officer. He was assigned to the department’s Police Academy when the hijacked planes hit the Twin Towers.

“After mustering at [Brooklyn’s] Floyd Bennett Field, we were bused down to Ground Zero, where the streets were filled with debris and destroyed vehicles and emergency apparatus,” Scarpinito recalls. “The air consisted of dark, musty particles. It was like we were stuck in a cloud.”

Scarpinito worked 26 hours straight that first shift at Ground Zero, followed by 12-hour shifts until December 16, 2001.

“Being I was medical personnel before I entered the police academy, they assigned me to numerous locations such as recovery and the medial examiner’s office/morgue,” he says. “When I returned to the academy, I started to have respiratory issues, even though I never smoked a day in my life. The issues got so bad that I could not physically complete the run that was mandatory to graduate the academy. So I left on my own terms by resigning from NYPD and returned to my EMS work.”

Scarpinito’s respiratory issues worsened. Eventually he was diagnosed with WTC-related lymphoma stage 2 cancer. As he underwent high-dose chemotherapy, “I worked EMS to keep my mind occupied and do things I love, like being an emergency worker and taking care of people,” he says. “This kept me going.”

Fast-forward to 2021, and Scarpinito was diagnosed with COVID on March 10.

“The COVID attacked my red blood cells, leading me to become hypoxic and pass out while on shift,” he says. “Thankfully I received immediate care from my partner and other responding units”—care that included hospitalization and a close brush with intubation.

Scarpinito was lucky to avoid that, but the damage to his 9/11-weakened body meant his pulse oximetry was not up for ambulance duty. The result: “I went from working multiple jobs for multiple institutions to just one job that did not require me to be out in the field,” he says. “The foundation helped me tremendously—that month I was facing a ton of hardships, and being that I still had one job, I did not qualify for other funding. They came through for me, allowing me to pay my bills.”

During COVID and Beyond

Since establishing its COVID-19 emergency response fund in 2020, “FRCF has received applications from first responder families in financial need from every state in the country in every first responder category,” says Perrin. The foundation has done its best to help them all. “The current distribution of grant awards is 34% to nurses and medical personnel; 27% to firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics; 23% to police officers and security; and 16% to 9-1-1 dispatchers and support services,” he adds.

With the fourth wave of COVID now crashing down, the need for the COVID-19 emergency response fund (and FRCF’s scholarship program) has never been greater. This is why Perrin is not shy about asking for help.

“Please visit 1stRCF.org to join us and be a hero to our heroes,” he urges. “Donations to FRCF have an immediate, positive, and powerful impact on first responders and the children of those who make sacrifices in service to their fellow citizens.” Of every dollar donated, 98 cents goes directly to programs to serve those in need.

James Careless is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to EMS World.