NFPA Firefighter Cancer Screening Services by Concentra®
This webinar covers a number of topics related to firefighter cancer screenings, including:
- Importance of NFPA’s cancer screening standards for firefighters
- Concentra’s services specific to cancer screenings
- Benefits of cancer screenings for your employees
Speaker: Dr. Ronda McCarthy, MD, MPH, FACOEM, FACPM
Welcome and Introduction of Speaker
0:00 – 0:42
Speaker: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the on-demand webinar NFPA Firefighter Cancer Screening Services by Concentra.
In this video, you'll learn about the National Firefighter Protection Association, standards for firefighter cancer screening, Concentra services specific to these recommended screenings, and the benefits of cancer screening for your employees.
My name is Ronda McCarthy. I'm an occupational environmental specialist and Concentra Senior Director of Medical Operations for Medical Surveillance Services and our Telebehavioral Health Services.
Opening and Agenda
0:43 – 1:20
The importance of cancer screening is outlined in the National Firefighter Protection Association 1582 Medical Evaluation Standards 2022 edition, or as it's consolidated now in the 1580 edition. These recommendations were derived by organizations like the American Cancer Society to ensure the medical evaluation addresses the heightened risk of specific cancers in firefighters.
I will also present to you the types of cancers screened for at Concentra based on these recommendations.
Benefits of Cancer Screenings
1:21 – 2:04
Firefighters are at a higher risk of developing certain cancers than the general population due to their exposure to smoke, chemicals, and other dangerous environments. Annual cancer screenings offer many benefits for firefighters. They are a proactive approach to detecting potential health concerns early. Screening programs also offer an opportunity to provide education and awareness on an individual's risk factors and any lifestyle modifications that can be made to reduce cancer risk. The goal of early detection is to improve treatment outcomes and survival rates if cancer is identified.
Cancer Screenings Concentra Provides
2:05 – 6:04
Concentra specializes in occupational healthcare and offers consistent quality medical evaluations that meet current medical and regulatory standards. It is essential for Concentra to offer medical evaluations and screenings that adhere to the most current NFPA standards and presumptive cancer legislation. We have a relationship with hundreds of municipalities and employers across the nation and have been offering public safety exams for more than 20 years. In the last 12 months, our clinicians have performed over 10,000 exams for firefighters alone. Concentra has created clinical guidance accessible to our clinicians to perform medical evaluations and wellness screenings that meet NFPA standards and most firefighter departments' internal medical requirements.
The initial and periodic medical evaluation of firefighters provides the opportunity to screen for fitness, wellness, and specific cancer.
The NFPA medical evaluation of firefighters recommend screening for skin, thyroid, testicular, oral cavity, blood, breast, cervical, colon, prostate, and lung cancers. They all have various requirements due to gender, age, and level of risk.
Skin, thyroid, testicular, and oral cavity cancers are screened on clinical examination. Our clinicians can detect abnormalities visually, or by feeling for lumps, irregular swelling, or enlargements.
Bladder cancer is detected through urinalysis. This is a laboratory test that analyzes a urine sample and highlights irregularities that can signal cancer.
Hematologic malignancy, also known as blood cancer, requires a complete blood cell count. Common examples of blood cancers are leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma.
To screen for breast cancer, mammography is performed, which is recommended every two years for female firefighters over 40 years and annually for women over 50 years of age.
Cervical cancer is found through cytology tests. Many women should already be scheduling a pap smear through their doctor every three years. And additional tests for HPV or human papillomavirus should be added to the pap smear every five years.
Concentra offers colon cancer screening that is a stool-based test called fecal immune testing, which is recommended annually for firefighters starting at the age 40 or earlier if clinically indicated. Firefighters with a positive screening test are referred to a gastroenterologist specialist for colonoscopy. A colonoscopy uses a flexible scope to examine the lower portion of the colon. For prostate cancer, a discussion with male firefighters on the risk and benefits of screening for prostate cancer that can include a prostate-specific antigen should begin at age 40 or 50. Depending on the risk level, it may be performed annually thereafter.
Lung cancer screening is recommended annually for those firefighters between the age of 50 and 74 who have a 20-pack-per-year smoking history and are currently smoking, or who have quit in the past 15 years. This is done by a low-dose CT scan for this specific screen. CT scans are not performed at Concentra centers.
For those fire departments that want to go above and beyond, there is a Galleri test available at some episodic onsite clinics. This blood screening test can screen for up to 50 different types of cancers, including some that lack routine screening options. It analyzes cell-free DNA and predicts the tissue or organ where the cancer signal likely originates.
Galleri cannot diagnose cancer, and it must be performed in addition to routine cancer screenings.
If you'd like more information on firefighter physicals and cancer screenings, contact a Concentra representative to learn more about these exams and exams for public service employees and other first responders. Thank you for your attention today, and take care.
