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Posts Tagged International Association of Fire Fighters

Fire Service news

Mar 20

Posted by Admin in Fire Service News | Comments off

Excerpts from iaff.org:

In the next step in its fight to combat firefighter cancer, the International Association of Fire Fighters filed suit March 16 against the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for its role in imposing a testing standard that effectively requires the use of PFAS in firefighter protective gear.  

A provision in NFPA 1971 requires certain components of firefighter bunker gear to pass the Ultraviolet Light Degradation Test. The test requires turnout gear to be exposed to UV light for 40 hours without degradation. The only substance that can pass the test for that long is PFAS. The complaint, International Association of Fire Fighters v. National Fire Protection Association, Inc., seeks to hold the NFPA liable for not removing the dangerous test from its Standard on Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting (Standard 1971).  

The suit, filed in Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., seeks damages and other relief. 

In its effort to combat cancer in the fire service, the IAFF has retained three nationally recognized law firms, Motley Rice LLC; Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC; and Sullivan Papain Block McGrath Coffinas & Cannavo P.C. (collectively known as the PFAS Law Firms) charged with changing regulatory standards, demanding PFAS-free gear, and assisting IAFF members and families seeking compensation for PFAS-related illness. 

The IAFF has been aggressive in working to remove PFAS from firefighter gear, focusing significant research, education, and publicity around the dangers posed by the forever chemicals. 

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Fire Service news

Oct 22

Posted by Admin in Fire Service News | Comments off

Excerpts from safetyandhealthmagazine.com:

A newly published guide is intended to help firefighters talk with their health care provider about the unique health risks they face on the job.

Developed by the National Volunteer Fire Council, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and the First Responder Center for Excellence, the Provider’s Guide to Firefighter Medical Evaluations details the physical challenges firefighters face and how they impact health. It also features research findings on the risks of cardiovascular disease, cancers, sleep disorders, lung disease, and behavioral health.

For instance, the guide lists 19 different types of cancers that firefighters are at increased risk of as a result of on-the-job exposures. They include bladder, lung, kidney and colon cancer. In addition, it lists 11 different carcinogens found in smoke.

In June, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer officially classified firefighting as a carcinogenic profession.

In a letter to firefighters accompanying the guide, the groups note that although the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force offers recommendations for the general public regarding health exams and screenings, they aren’t designed for occupational groups with increased risks.

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Cancer in the Fire Service

Aug 29

Posted by Admin in Cancer in the fire service | Comments off

Excerpts from nbcnews.com:

The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), and the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association are both warning members that the protective gear firefighters wear poses a health risk because it can contain PFAS, synthetic chemicals associated with issues such as an increased risk of liver and kidney cancer.

PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are often referred to as “forever chemicals” because they’re nearly impossible to destroy. They’re able to resist stains, grease and water, so are used to make products such as workout clothing, raincoats, and firefighters’ turnout gear, which is designed to block both moisture and heat. In addition to certain cancers, PFAS have also been linked to risks of low birth weight, high cholesterol and thyroid disease.

The groups advised firefighters to wear turnout gear only when absolutely necessary, in order to reduce their exposure to the chemicals. The groups also recommended that firefighters seal the gear in a container or a bag during transport, wash their hands after touching the items and avoid bringing them into firehouse living areas.

The advisory is based on research showing that PFAS can leach out of turnout gear onto firefighters’ skin and potentially enter their bloodstream. But it’s hard to quantify precisely how often that happens or what health risks different exposure levels pose.

Firefighters may be at particular risk of exposure to PFAS from clothing because they wear their gear for long periods of time, often while they’re sweating and exposed to high heat.

But 3M, a manufacturer of turnout gear, questioned the association of PFAS with health risks like cancer. “Global health agencies and researchers acknowledge the limited nature of evidence indicating that PFAS cause harmful effects for specific health endpoints,” the company said in a statement.

Firefighters also get exposed to PFAS through foam used on fires that are difficult to extinguish, though some fire departments have replaced the foam with PFAS-free alternatives. The foam likely poses a greater health threat than turnout gear because firefighters are “drenched in it, and possibly even ingesting and inhaling some of it and absorbing it through their eyes and other mucous membranes.”

The International Association of Fire Fighters said that PFAS is just one source of cancer risk that firefighters face on the job. Cancer caused 61% of line-of-duty deaths among career firefighters from January 2002 to December 2016, according to the union, due to factors such as smoke inhalation and chemical exposure. Firefighters have a 9% higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer than the overall U.S. population, according to federal data, and a 14% higher risk of dying from cancer.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer recently classified firefighting as an occupation as carcinogenic. The IAFF is trying to eliminate exposures where it can, with the understanding that the job still carries risk.

Most people in the United States have been exposed to PFAS and have the chemicals in their blood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. PFAS have been found in many consumer goods, including food packaging, carpets, cookware, and personal care products.

The chemicals can lurk in drinking water. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, PFAS may pose health risks at near-zero concentrations in water, so the agency set new limits for levels of PFAS in drinking water in June.

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Highland Park FD set to provide fire & EMS to Highwood

Nov 19

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 8 Comments

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

The city of Highwood has reached agreements with its fire union and individual union members that clear the way for the municipality to dissolve its fire department and receive fire and paramedic services from the city of Highland Park. Highwood voters must first approve a referendum question on the March 15 ballot allowing the city to discontinue providing emergency services.

The two suburbs have worked out the terms of a 30-year contract for Highland Park to take over fire and paramedic services for its neighbor July 1, if Highwood voters approve the ballot question. Under the agreement, Highwood would pay Highland Park $625,000 the first year for emergency and fire inspection services. Annual increases would be tied to inflation but capped at 3 percent. The Highwood City Council was scheduled to vote on the agreement Nov. 17.

A key condition of the accord is that Highwood settle labor disputes with its union, a local of the International Association of Fire Fighters, over the dissolution of the department and the contracting of services before July 1. The pact also requires Highwood to settle grievances brought by three first-year firefighters who were dismissed last spring shortly before their probationary periods were set to expire. At the time, Highwood was reducing the number of full-time firefighters and paramedics, and preparing to contract with Paramedic Services of Illinois for some of its personnel. That plan was put on hold after the union grievances were filed, and the three dismissed firefighters were rehired as part-time employees.

Under the agreements worked out with the union, Highwood will make lump sum severance payments to five firefighters, including the dismissed employees, if the referendum passes. Part-time employees will be paid $25 for each 24-hour shift worked between November, 2015 and June 30, 2016, when the department would close if the referendum passes.

Meanwhile, the employees and the union have agreed not to make disparaging remarks about the city or its efforts to dissolve the fire department, or interfere with the referendum. The union has agreed not to ask the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois, an advocacy organization, to become involved in the question of cessation or the referendum.

Highland Park’s Fire Station 34 at 1100 Half Day Road is located a few blocks west of Highwood’s western border, and municipal officials note the department already responds to many Highwood fire calls under automatic and mutual aid agreements. Highwood is less than one square mile and is surrounded on all sides by Highland Park.

Highwood expects to save $684,000 the first year, and is projecting $9.3 million in savings over the first decade of the agreement even if the yearly, inflation-based increases in payments to Highland Park are the maximum 3 percent.

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