KEANSBURG, NJ – Thirteen years after acquiring a piece of World Trade Center steel and seven years after breaking ground for their 9/11 EMS memorial, EMS Council of New Jersey (EMSCNJ) and Keansburg Borough officials dedicated the granite monument Sept. 14 before approximately 150 people. The EMSCNJ memorial at Baywalk East, 1 Beachway is the only one of its kind in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to 9/11 EMS workers.   

Plagued by funding- and COVID-related delays, the much-anticipated monument honors EMS personnel killed in the Twin Towers attacks and from illnesses caused by exposure to the rubble’s toxins. At least half a dozen participants in Saturday’s event responded to Manhattan as EMSCNJ volunteers after the attacks 23 years ago. Fifty-four EMTs and paramedics died on Sept. 11, 2001; 11 were from New Jersey. At least five of them were members or former members of EMSCNJ squads. 

The 95-year-old nonprofit New Jersey State First Aid Council, doing business as the EMSCNJ, represents thousands of EMS volunteers affiliated with 200+ EMS agencies throughout the state. In 2011 it was among 1,132 organizations awarded an artifact from the Worl Trade Center rubble. The portion of rusty, twisted steel weighs 338 lbs. and measures 5 feet long, 34 inches wide and 29 inches high. The monument’s placement at the Keansburg beach entrance is in direct line to where the towers stood across Raritan Bay. 

More than 400 NJ ambulances responded to either Liberty State Park or the Meadowlands on Sept. 11, 2001. From there, many EMSCNJ member ambulances were sent to Chelsea Pier for standby. Others paired with FDNY EMTs to respond to 911 calls in New York City. For weeks afterward, some volunteers continued assisting efforts at ground zero and others helped answer 911 calls in and around New York City. During that time, volunteer EMS crews continued answering calls for help in their own New Jersey municipalities. 

New Jersey’s EMS volunteers answer hundreds of thousands of calls annually throughout the state. Many have been volunteering for decades.