World Trade Center survivor Elaine Duch at the press conference held at NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center when she was released from the Burn Center. From left: Dr. Roger Yurt, director of the Burn Center; Dr. Palmer Bessey, professor of surgery and her attending physician; Robert Dembicki, nurse manager of the Burn Center; (far right) Paul Adams, the Emergency Medical Technician who rescued her; other members of the Burn Center and Emergency Medicine Teams; and representatives from the Port Authority.
Elaine Duch, one of the most critically injured survivors of the World Trade Center tragedy, was released from the Burn Center on Jan. 29. She was transferred to the Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, for further rehabilitative treatment, and will continue to receive care at the Burn Center on an outpatient basis.
Ms. Duch, a 49-year-old administrative assistant for the Port Authority's Real Estate Department, is the 11th World Trade Center burn patient to be released from NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center. On Sept. 11, Ms. Duch was brought to the Burn Center in critical condition, with burns over 77 percent of her body and suffering from severe smoke inhalation injuries. She was working on the 88th floor at the World Trade Center when the first plane hit Tower One.
Ms. Duch, who resides in Bayonne, N.J., underwent seven operations during her stay at the Burn Center.
The Burn Center treated 18 of the most critically injured patients from the World Trade Center. Currently, one patient remains in the Hospital.