For firefighters there are many hazards on the job, and a top risk is cancer. Now Stamford Health is launching a pilot program to help those first responders put their health at the forefront.
Kyle Houser has been a firefighter for 18 years, 12 of those with the Stamford Fire Department.
“I'm married, I have a family,” Kyle Houser, vice president of the Stamford Professional Firefighters Association, said. “I'm starting to think about my health in ways that I that I wasn't concerned about before.”
Houser is well aware of the risks of his career.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
For firefighters, occupational cancer is the leading cause of line-of-duty death, resulting in 72 percent of those deaths, according to the International Association of Firefighters.
“Since I've been in Stamford, we lost a member to occupational cancer, to line-of-duty death, and I currently have two members out of work fighting occupational cancer,” Houser said.
It’s why Houser, a union leader and chair of health and wellness, is supporting Stamford Health’s new Firefighter Health and Wellness Program.
“It's tremendous. It's absolutely what our industry needs,” Houser said.
The pilot program launched in February and about 10 to 15 firefighters from Stamford and Norwalk have been seeing physicians who specialize in their unique needs.
“We're really hoping that we can just try to gain attention these firefighters,” Dr. Katherine Matthew, a Stamford Health Family Medicine physician, said. “They're putting their lives on the line every single day, and just going into work every day, you know, is a risk for them.”
Dr. Matthew is one of the physicians providing the specialized care. She said firefighters are regularly exposed to toxins that put them at risk for occupational cancer.
“The fire itself releases chemicals such as carbon monoxide, which we all know is known to be pretty toxic. But then there's also when things are burning that releases a lot of chemicals that you know they come into contact with,” Dr. Matthew said. “A lot of the equipment that they use that are supposed to protect them, you know that are flame-resistant, the chemicals that are used in those equipment can also be toxic.”
Firefighters also face a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, Dr. Matthew said. For all of those reasons, Stamford Health is encouraging them to get in for screenings and follow-ups.
The health care system wants firefighters to come in at earlier ages than other patients and screen for the health conditions they are most susceptible to.
“A firefighter is not an average person. They're at a higher risk,” Dr. Matthew said.
For those taking part, Houser said it has brought peace of mind. With the pilot program set to open up to more departments across the state before the end of the year, he said it will mean more holistic wellness for Connecticut firefighters.
“You need a long-term relationship with a doctor that understands the risk factors,” Houser said. “Both the physical hazards as well as the emotional hazards, the mental hazards, that we encounter on the job.”
