January 28, 2017 at 8:32 AM
Firefighter cancer is a looming personal catastrophe for each and every fire
fighter. Cancer is the most dangerous and unrecognized threat to the health and
safety of our nation’s firefighters.
Multiple studies, including the soon-to-be-released NIOSH cancer study, have
repeatedly demonstrated credible evidence and biologic creditability for statisti
cally higher rates of multiple types of cancers in firefighters compared to the
general American population including:
■
Testicular cancer (2.02 times greater risk)
■
Multiple myeloma (1.53 times greater risk)
■
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (1.51 times greater risk)
■
Skin cancer (1.39 times greater risk)
■
Prostate cancer (1.28 times greater risk)
■
Malignant melanoma (1.31 times great risk)
■
Brain cancer (1.31 times greater risk)
■
Colon cancer (1.21 times great risk)
■
Leukemia (1.14 times greater risk)
■
Breast cancer in women (preliminary study results from the San Francisco Fire
Department)
We are just beginning to understand the horrific magnitude of the problem,
the depth of our naiveté, the challenges involved and the changes required in
education, training, operations, medical screenings and personal accountability
to effectively address cancer in the fire service.
See cancer kills just like bullets. We need to do something about each of them.
fighter. Cancer is the most dangerous and unrecognized threat to the health and
safety of our nation’s firefighters.
Multiple studies, including the soon-to-be-released NIOSH cancer study, have
repeatedly demonstrated credible evidence and biologic creditability for statisti
cally higher rates of multiple types of cancers in firefighters compared to the
general American population including:
■
Testicular cancer (2.02 times greater risk)
■
Multiple myeloma (1.53 times greater risk)
■
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (1.51 times greater risk)
■
Skin cancer (1.39 times greater risk)
■
Prostate cancer (1.28 times greater risk)
■
Malignant melanoma (1.31 times great risk)
■
Brain cancer (1.31 times greater risk)
■
Colon cancer (1.21 times great risk)
■
Leukemia (1.14 times greater risk)
■
Breast cancer in women (preliminary study results from the San Francisco Fire
Department)
We are just beginning to understand the horrific magnitude of the problem,
the depth of our naiveté, the challenges involved and the changes required in
education, training, operations, medical screenings and personal accountability
to effectively address cancer in the fire service.
See cancer kills just like bullets. We need to do something about each of them.
