Press release from Asheville Fire Department:
The Asheville Fire Department will host cancer awareness and prevention training on November 15 and 16 for all members and several county fire members. The delivering agency is the NC Firefighter Cancer Support Network firefightercancersupport.org/request-assistance-state/nc/ who’s mission is to provide timely assistance to fire/EMS personnel and their family members who have been diagnosed with cancer.
With approximately 18,000 calls per year consisting of car wrecks, medical calls, rescues and fires, Asheville firefighters keep busy round-the-clock. Even though they are equipped with state-of-the-art apparatus, tools and protective gear what’s threatening all firefighters today is a danger often not seen: cancer. The International Association of Firefighters says cancer is now the leading cause of death among firefighters. While thirty years ago, firefighters were most often diagnosed with asbestos-related cancers, today the cancers are more often leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma, officials say. The most aggressive cancers are oral, digestive, respiratory and urinary.
Researchers say one big reason for the change is that firefighters today are fighting very different blazes. Modern homes and businesses full of synthetics, plastics and chemicals can explode much faster and coat firefighters in a toxic soot. A CDC/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health study tracked nearly 30,000 firefighters across the country in 2010 and found higher rates of cancer than the general population.
Now, Asheville fire and fire departments nationwide are ordering their men and women to take the danger from chemicals much more seriously. No longer is a firefighter’s soot-covered face a badge of honor. Asheville fire purchased air tanks that provide oxygen for 45 minutes, rather than the standard 30 minutes. Guidelines are created so that firefighters must keep their masks on until they are out of the smoke. The Asheville fire department’s goal is to provided each member with a second set of gear so they can have a clean set after a fire while industrial washing machines clean their dirty equipment. With each full set of gear costing approximately $3000 this is not a simple purchase. AFD often applies for grants and seeks other means to hopefully obtain the money.
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