By: "Cousin Sal" Banchitta, Ret FF FDNY
Captain Chris Conner of the Bedford (TX) Fire Dept. corroborated this with his own experiences with gene testing products and the many sales reps from safety equipment manufacturers. "Sales reps love to send us free samples to grab our attention hoping to get firefighters to give a testimonial about their products. Getting an endorsement from the fire department can be big $$ for these vendors, but this puts us at risk (liability-wise) by commercializing our department."
Today, the AAD/FCSN Screening Program apparently is scheduled at over 40 other firehouses across the country. They proved themselves to be the 'good guys' in San Diego and New York City. To all the captains and chiefs and department heads out there, the message here is to "VET, not AUTO-REJECT". As the battle against cancer in the community continues, we need all the prevention and early detection we can get.
There's good out there for our members and this story is truly one of them!
If you would like to learn more about the AAD/FCSN Screening Program or plan a skin cancer screening for your firehouse, please visit: Cancer Screening (firefightercancersupport.org)
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
“Firefighters risk their lives and safety to protect their communities from danger. But the leading cause of death in the fire service isn’t fires or explosions – it’s occupational cancer. Our administration proudly supports the Department of Fire Services’ work to promote cancer awareness, prevention and early detection among Massachusetts firefighters. We are deeply grateful to our partners in the fire service and medical community for raising awareness of this life-or-death issue, and to our partners in the Legislature for supporting the funding that makes our screening programs, safety equipment grants, and other initiatives possible.” - Governor Maura Healey of Massachusetts 7/26/2024
IN MEMORIAM: DANIEL J. NOONAN
HONORING NATIONAL FIRST RESPONDERS POWERHOUSE MENTOR - By: Lennard Gettz (F.A.C.E.S.)
His name was "STAY LOW" DAN NOONAN and he was my friend!
7/22/2024- Dan forever changed the optics of what is to be a crusader for the first responder. He remains as one of my personal champions and a fire stoker in my public advocacy for cancer care.
I had the pleasure of co-producing "THE FIRE STILL BURNS" video documentary with Dan. It was a spotlight on the 1975 NYT Tel Exchange Fire- an historical disaster that Dan turned into a n educational crusade and a commemoration for its 699 FDNY responders. Dan and I spent countless hours filming and capturing his narration about the event. He was so committed to re-tell and and re-live that dreaded fire for the benefit of anyone who fights fires with their own lives. He uncovered and offered countless lessons from this fire - from topics of safety, prevention to getting proactive health checkups.
After decades of advocating for the 699 firefighters who were trapped in the dark abyss and the killer smoke of the NY Telephone building fire, Dan finally got his commemoration for all those who perished and those remaining 'old timers' from the fire.
If you listen to any of Dan’s presentations, the disaster of 1975 taught us all so much about the risks behind modern fires, but it remains a landmark for our research and education. When I look at Dan Noonan’s towering figure, I see him as a beacon for us all- unwavering in his resolve and a guardian of a powerful vision, fulfilling a 43 year old promise to be the voice of so many who sacrificed without hesitation to protect our great city. Dan continues to stand proudly and stand tall with the greatest unifying message of them all- to NEVER FORGET!
In the spirit of doing our part and making a difference, I proudly stood side by side with all members of the fire service, active and retired- including all advocates and foundations. He remains my inspiration to responding to a call of need and doing all that we can for our community.
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REPRISE:
From Small Firehouses to the FD Academy: A Landmark of Perseverance and A NEW DAY FOR "GET CHECKED NOW!"
Improving the Hearing Health of First Responders
Resilience Toolbox interviewed Suhrud Rajguru, Ph.D., the Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of RestorEar Devices, who is a Professor at the University of Miami. We spoke about the challenges faced by first responders frequently exposed to high levels of noise on the job, and the tools available to support their hearing health. Dr. Rajguru's team created the first FDA-registered and research-backed hearing health device called ReBound by RestorEar, designed to minimize hearing damage after exposure to loud noises.
Dr Rajguru continues:
For several years, The University of Miami has been working through the Firefighter Cancer Initiative with fire departments across Florida, specifically several fire departments in South Florida. We started thinking about how we could take the partnership the University of Miami has built with the fire service to address the challenges of hearing loss and balance dysfunction that occurs in firefighters due to the noise exposure they get while performing their duties.
All of us should be concerned about hearing health. Hearing loss has been associated with neurocognitive decline and Alzheimer's dementia. Given the nature of the jobs first responders perform, they are exposed to loud noises from alarms, engines, sirens, water pumps, chainsaws, etc. This can be quite extreme and can create damage to the hearing organs in the inner ear very early on. Often those damages go undiagnosed and undetected and can have long-term hearing and health consequences. Given the critical nature of the jobs that firefighters and first responders perform, it’s important that we protect their hearing health early on because we want to help them have healthy long-term outcomes.
One of the challenges with hearing loss is protection versus prevention. We should protect our hearing when possible. We can wear ear plugs or over-the-ear devices to reduce and mitigate loud noises from affecting our inner ears and causing that initial damage or trauma. But we know there are challenges with that, especially in the first responder job, where situational awareness is key. Given the unique needs of first responders, hearing protection may only be feasible some of the time.
At RestorEar we started thinking about prevention: how do we prevent acute damages that are occurring as we get exposed on the job? How does that lead to the prevention of long-term health consequences?
We all know whenever we have an injury, the first thing we do is apply ice to reduce inflammation and provide a little bit of cooling. How do we provide that cooling for our hearing? This led us to build RestorEar based on decades of research about mild therapeutic hypothermia (cooling) to reduce the inflammation and damage associated with loud noise exposures.
Working collaboratively with first responders and the general community led us to think about how we can use this therapy. The moment after you’ve had noise exposure, RestorEar’s Rebound is designed to deliver mild hypothermia therapy to reduce the inflammation and hence prevent acute damage, which then helps with long-term damage and consequences.
The hearing and balance of first responders are priceless, however, their exposure to extremely noisy environments makes them susceptible to hearing loss and balance dysfunction. Fortunately, tools have been developed to combat these challenges. Our team is committed to protecting the hearing health of fire service members and first responders and is eager to collaborate with them.
Suhrud Rajguru, Ph.D., is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Otolaryngology at the University of Miami and a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of RestorEar Devices, LLC. He completed his undergraduate studies in Mumbai, India prior to pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Utah. Suhrud's research foci are on the investigations of pathophysiology, the diagnosis and treatment of various hearing and balance disorders. An educator, scientist and entrepreneur, he is an author of numerous peer-reviewed publications and is a named inventor on issued and pending patent applications. His research is supported by the National Institutes of Health and industry partners and he is actively involved in the education and mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students. He leads the University of Miami's I-Corps@NCATS program supported by NCATS. He is co-director of the Institute for Neural Engineering at the University of Miami and Director of the Workforce Development program at the Miami CTSI. Recently he was awarded the Merit Grant by Veterans Administration and he’s been appointed as a Health Research Scientist at Miami VA. https://restorear.com/
Step into the world of RESPONDER RESILIENCE, an insightful podcast that sheds light on the challenges and triumphs of firefighters, EMTs, dispatchers, and law enforcement professionals. Hear firsthand accounts from our community's finest as they discuss critical issues on the job and share their experiences with hosts Lt. David Dachinger (ret.), Bonnie Rumilly LCSW/EMT and Dr. Stacy Raymond. Explore topics of mental and physical wellness with emergency services thought leaders, and get ready to be inspired and gain a deeper appreciation for their sacrifices and resilience.
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