Heroes rescued

Dr. David Prezant of the FDNY has been tending to firefighters, paramedics and EMTs whose health has been impacted by the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9/11 since 9/11, having been downtown at Ground Zero that day. Nineteen years later, he’s still at it, overseeing the FDNY’s seven clinics monitoring and treating the retired and active heroes who toiled at the WTC, risking all for their fellow New Yorkers and their country and the too many of them sickened by the poisoned air.

The $3,363,931.72 the federal government refunded by wire to the FDNY this week ($3,854.89 more than was earlier estimated — and yes, we are watching every darn cent) came from a chastened U.S. Treasury, along with a letter from Secretary Steve Mnuchin to the congressional delegation. This was after a series of ridiculous roundabouts of federal bureaucracy spurring much angry scorn from an outraged Daily News. That cash accounts for a huge share of the clinics’ budget and allows Prezant to fill 21 vacant positions for MDs, nurses and support staff.

The clinics are 100% paid for by a Congress grateful to these thousands of selfless public servants who ran to help others and aid our nation under foreign attack.

The funding was wrongly dunned with no notice and then took months to restore thanks to the doggedness of Rep. Pete King, who pushed hard since March. Our megaphone joined him over the last six weeks.

The professionals working at the clinics now have the resources to diagnose, prescribe, counsel and console the suffering of the heroes we salute every September but too often ignore the rest of the year. Three million bucks is nothing for a federal government spending trillions. But a skilled doctor, a compassionate nurse and caring staff are priceless to those in need.