The Halifax Professional Firefighters Association is pushing for increased support from the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), calling for earlier cancer screenings and more resources for firefighters who face heightened health risks.
The call for action comes amid growing concerns over the impact of firefighting on long-term health, particularly cancer rates. The union argues that the current health-care system fails to recognize the increased risk firefighters face due to repeated exposure.
“We have a nine per cent higher general cancer rate, and we’re 14 per cent more likely to die from these cancers,” said Brendan Meagher, president of the association.
In Nova Scotia, routine cancer screenings are only recommended and accessible to firefighters at age 50, but the union argues that is too late for firefighters, many of whom develop symptoms much earlier.
“We’re going into toxic smoke environments where we’re absorbing this smoke at high temperatures through out skin,” said Meagher.
Darlene Sellers, who lost her nephew Billy Marr to colon cancer at 46, said early detection could have made a difference.
“He fought, but it was hard to see him go from a strong, healthy man to what he became when he passed away,” she said.
Marr showed symptoms of colon cancer but had to wait over a year to get a check up, and by then, it was too late.
Paul Edwards, a firefighter who was diagnosed with prostate cancer, credits early screening with saving his life.
“I had a doctor who started testing early, knowing what my profession was,” he said. “We had a baseline, and he was able to track my numbers.”
Edwards is calling on the municipality to include preventative cancer screenings in its budget, arguing the health care system is failing to recognize their increased risk.
The union is hoping HRM can include preventative cancer screenings in its budget, ensuring that any firefighter – including volunteer firefighters with at least 10 years of service – have access to private clinics for early detection.
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