1) Cancer
You would be hard pressed to find a firefighter, volunteer or career, who doesn't know somebody in the fire service who has fought or died from some form of cancer. Furthermore, the statistics support this anecdote with how firefighters are at a 9 percent increase for
cancer diagnoses and a 14 percent increase for cancer-related deaths than the general U.S. population, according National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health studies. The
leading cancer forms firefighters contract are gastrointestinal, respiratory and kidney cancers.
2) Heart Attack
It is not an exaggeration to say the fire service is in the middle of a heart attack crisis. From 2008 to 2018 a total of 492 firefighters died from on-duty related heart attacks; which
accounts for 48.9 percent of on-duty firefighter deaths in that time period, according to statistics from the U.S. Fire Administration.
In response to this crisis some programs have been created like "A Gift From Captain Buscio" in New Jersey that offer free comprehensive cardiovascular and pulmonary exams to firefighters, EMS personnel and police officers.
3) Work-life balance
It can be rough sometimes having essentially a second job that you do for free. This is partly the reason recruiting new volunteer firefighters can be difficult, but this same issue affects all
volunteer firefighters who have to budget their time between multiple responsibilities. Between work, family and the fire service is why you'll see people leave the volunteer fire service as they get older, get married and have kids.
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