Back in the day, if a firefighter’s protective jacket smelled of smoke or their helmet was melted or nicked at the end of a shift, it was considered a sign of bravery, or a badge of honor.
But as the number of cancer diagnoses among firefighters, paramedics and police officers rise, caring for turnout gear stained from dangerous scenes is considered a way to help prevent disease, experts told an audience at the inaugural First Responder Cancer Awareness event held Jan. 25 in Miami Lakes Town Hall.
“There is an increased risk of cancer in first responders,” Dr. Joseph Pizzolato told an audience of about two dozen emergency personnel.
Pizzolato is an oncologist from the University of Miami’s Sylvester Cancer Center and was one of the speakers invited by the town’s Public Safety Committee and Councilwoman Marilyn Ruano.
The goal of the forum was to encourage first responders to monitor their health and take steps to prevent chronic illness.
Pizzolato was joined by Eric Johnson, president of Local 1102, the union that represents Hialeah Fire Rescue, Capt. Omar Blanco of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue; Lt. Alejandro Palacio, District 6 director of the Florida State Fraternal Order of Police and Mary Davila from the office of Fla. Rep. Tom Fabricio, R-Miami Lakes.
After a long career with Hialeah Fire Rescue, Johnson became sick with colon cancer, which he survived.
He told the audience that one in six active or retired firefighters have experience with the disease.
“These are things that need to change,” Johnson said.
Speakers stressed the importance of screening and health care for a group who tend to put others first.
Those who heard the message loud and clear were members of Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Station 64’s B shift, from the station at Northwest 77 Court and Miami Lakes Drive.
Battalion Chief Daniel Bolline oversees both of Miami Lakes’ fire stations and said education was key.
“[Those were] shocking numbers,” Bolline said following the event.
Awareness is important for him and something that Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue is doing to help its members, along with emphasizing prevention protocols.
“We do have a [disease] screening program, [and] we do [them] every other year,” Bolline said. “That was a push from our union.”
Firefighters’ screenings previously happened every seven to eight years, he said.
Bolline had a cancer scare when a nodule was discovered in his thyroid.
“Screening caught it,” he said. “Our department is taking great steps to keep us safe, along with our union, Local 1403.”
Bolline said that the department gives firefighters a second set of gear and they have decontamination procedures to follow for themselves and their work clothing.
There are also instructions for when they take showers -- scrubbing and rinsing their bodies three times, paying special attention to areas with lymph nodes.
“It’s no longer frowned upon,” Bolline said about preventing contamination. “Once upon a time we’d fight a fire and stay dirty all shift.”
And in addition to taking physical care of themselves, officials let the forum attendees know that a state law provides financial protection for firefighters who become sick or die from job-related cancers.
Enacted in 2019, it requires employers to make certain payments to a firefighter if there is total or permanent disability or pay benefits for deaths related to cancer or cancer treatments.