Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month: Departments making big changes to protect first responders
MESQUITE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) — It used to be the last thought to cross a firefighter's mind: the dangers lurking in the smoke and soot from the flames they battled.
January is Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month, and in recent years, departments have answered the call and are making big changes in their stations.
Walking away from a fire covered in black soot has been, for many years, a point of pride for firefighters.
"That was like a badge of honor," Mesquite Fire Department Chief Russell Wilson said. "You'd been in there fighting fire; you'd been in there fighting the dragon, you know."
Chief Wilson says that ash and grime held a hidden danger.
Cancer, according to the CDC, is the leading cause of death among firefighters.
Their risk of being diagnosed is 9% higher than the general public's. Their risk of dying is 15% higher.
"It's a sobering thought," Chief Wilson said. "I think all of us have a moral obligation to take care of those who take care of us."
Captain Chad Rose says cancer wasn't something firefighters talked about when he started in the department 29 years ago.
"I've seen firemen who I've known and worked with die from it," he said. "We grow up trying to save everyone's lives out there, but never thought about ours. Now we're finally thinking about ours."
In Mesquite, the moment a firetruck pulls up to his station, it's hooked up to a special hose.
"It's a direct capture of the diesel exhaust fumes," Rose explained.
The hose stays connected until the truck heads back out on another call. What's more, Mesquite firefighters now have two sets of gear; keeping them from wearing the same bunker gear to multiple fires. And when the gear is used, it comes off and goes into the wash.
"There we have what's called an extractor," Rose said.
Of course, the extractor is more advanced than the typical washing machine in homes.
"It's the chemicals and soaps they use for trying to get the carcinogens out," he explained.
All this prevention can only do so much. So, cities are also investing in efforts to detect cancer early.
"This last year, we implemented a health and wellness program, where we run every one of our firefighters through a series of exercises and tests to determine their level of health and risk factors," Chief Wilson said.
The measures fire departments are taking can be expensive, but in time, Wilson says they hope they'll save lives.
"Let's keep clean and try to keep the cancer away."