Anne Geggis
How much of a cancer hazard does fighting fires present? Budget conferencing committees have agreed to give the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Care Center $2 million to continue researching the question.
Sylvester’s Firefighter Cancer Initiative (FCI) started in 2015 to address the increased incidence of cancer among those who rush into burning buildings to save others.
And now the cancer center at the University of Miami’s Miller Medical School is trying to save more of them.
Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which the FCI contributed to, shows firefighters are 9% more likely to get cancer than the general population and 14% more likely to die from it.
Both the Senate and the House agree it’s worth the cost of trying to put out that malignant conflagration, according to budget documents released Wednesday.
Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia of Miami made the request in the Senate and GOP Rep. Alex Rizo filed it in the House.
The appropriation is a repeat of the $2 million in funding the project received last year. Requesting documents say it’s unlikely to be requested again.
Last year, the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization determined that cancer is an occupational hazard of firefighting. Mesothelioma and bladder cancer were determined to be the most probable cancers for firefighters to develop. There is also some evidence that it may be related to colon, prostate, testicular, and skin cancers.
For the FCI, the federal government is kicking in $558,000 to fund the coming year’s work.
The institute has 25 projects that have engaged 7,500 people in work that includes developing best practices to decrease cancer incidence, the requesting documents say.
Among the goals lined up for the coming year:
—Increase access to cancer screenings and technology to monitor and minimize exposure to carcinogens;
—Collect and evaluate physiologic stress and psychological distress in the firefighter work environment;
—Glean information from major disasters, like the Surfside condo collapse, to create emergency disaster guidelines;
—Host the annual Firefighter Cancer Symposium, which attracts firefighters from all across the state and the nation;
—Understand and address organizational culture to better promote preventive practices, such as gear cleaning, to reduce carcinogen exposure; and
—Develop online tools to spread the word about reducing exposure to toxins.
