Lowell Area Fire Department issued the following announcement on Jan 12.
January is Fire Fighter Cancer Awareness Month.
Throughout the month we will be sharing information on this topic and helping you become more educated and aware about cancer in the fire service. Let's spend January doing some "behind the scenes" into the fire service. Awareness benefits all of us. We need your support on a daily, the more you know the better equipped you are to help us! Fire Fighter occupational cancer is the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths. The Fire Service has evolved and the understanding of carcinogens and the impact on the fire service is a subject matter that is under constant evaluation and research. We work in uncontrolled environments. We are exposed to hazards at high levels for varying lengths of time, unlike most other occupations. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is required and we have a lot of it, it just doesn't completely eliminate our risk of exposure. We can transfer contaminates on our equipment and the apparatus- back to the fire house. Exposure can be through our lungs, the nose; mouth and throat; and contact with our skin. Once a call is completed we come back to the station and wash our trucks, gear, tools, air packs, etc. We do our best to mitigate the risk of contaminates by doing what we can to keep things clean.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up