GREENSBORO, N.C. — For years firefighters across the country and right here in North Carolina have sounded the alarm between cancer and the profession and now a new World Health Organization study confirmed it.
The study finally links certain cancers to the profession. It's encouraging news for Dave Coker, President of the Professional Firefighter's Association in Greensboro, who knows the pain of losing a member of the force.
"These are guys that we knew and we worked with and their part of our community," Coker said.
The work to raise awareness about the issue has been done by Coker and the association for years. In January they were able to finally secure cancer coverage in the state.
"Cancer is one of those things that it doesn't happen in one instance it's a cumulative affect of a career of being on this job and everybody thinks about it," Coker said.
The WHO report found firefighters experienced a nine percent increase in cancer diagnoses and a 14 percent increase in cancer-related deaths.
It links the increase to firefighter exposure to carcinogens on the job-both on the scene of a fire and at the fire house. Travis McGaha with the state's Firefighter Cancer Alliance is working to educate firefighters about this.
"There are things that are forever contaminated after it's been used and that stuff is always around us so we have to be cautious about how we handle and do things even at the station," McGaha said.
He said there is a simple way to try to diminish exposure to the toxins and it's often as simple as properly showering and washing work gear.
"So we wash our gear on the fire scene we know that if we can decontaminate our stuff right before we even get back in the truck that can cut the exposure down over 90% to the carcinogens that will be in the gear," McGaha said.
All of this is an effort to cut down on the loss so many on the force have experienced.
"The fire service is notorious for being very traditional but this is something that we have to change our culture because our culture is killing us," McGaha said.