15/07/2015
MIAMI (CBSMiami) — It’s a tough anniversary for a family to
mark. It’s two years since the passing of Miami Dade Fire
Captain Rafeal Herraro. His journey and battle with cancer,
lymphoma, the first in a series of cases that triggered a CBS4
investigation, The Silent Killer .
“The rate of cancer we are seeing in our fire department is
huge and that made us start looking at what could it be,”
says Captain Shane Anderson.
Researchers said firefighters across South Florida are in a
battle against cancer, including alarming numbers of thyroid,
colon and brain cancer. Now all eyes are turning to the
firefighters’ personal protective gear. In the spotlight is how to
improve it, clean it and store it.
CBS4 Chief Investigator Michele Gillen joined Captain
Anderson in a walk through of the Miami-Dade logistics
headquarters where new gear is stored in a revamped set up
that could prove to be critical. Anderson described the
difference as a “huge change.”
“We found that we were storing the gear wrong. Most
everybody in the country was but what we found out is that
two things were a big factor. The way this stuff is made. The
seams that are in it. The glues that are used off gas. You
want to protect the firefighter with gear that is going to help
them in a dangerous environment. But you also want to make
sure that we are storing it correctly so that the chemicals that
are used don’t hurt them down the road as well, ” said
Anderson.
He showed Gillen how stored gear is now removed from all
plastic packaging and boxing and shaded from artificial light.
“We found out is that ultra violet light is one of the worst
things for firefighter gear. So you deal with two things,” he
added.
Ultimately responsible for armoring up the county’s firefighters
is Chief Foy Jenkins. He is ever mindful that South Florida
firefighters have only one set of personal protection gear a
piece. If fires are back to back there may not be enough time
to fully decontaminate the gear.
Foy is crunching numbers to see if back up gear per firefighter
can be purchased in the future.
Gillen asked, “What does that responsibility feel like?”
Jenkins responded, “It’s a burden. Because of the economic
downturn, we have been through…when money is limited it
makes some of the decisions very difficult,and especially
knowing that in your heart,maybe not scientifically, but in your
heart, that some simple changes can make some different
outcomes.”
The spotlight is now shifting to the personal protective hood,
a potential catch-all for contaminants and carcinogens. Up
until CBS4’s report, the firefighters were issued only one. Now
a second one will be available to them.
“If they have a hood, they can come to support and they can
get a new one. So they have two now,” said Anderson.
Reminders are everywhere that clean gear is the new normal.
For Miami Dade Firefighters, it is a path that leads to Minerva,
one of the nations leading specialists in cleaning and repairing
bunker gear which is a precise practice. At Minerva, business
is brisk gear to be cleaned arriving in record numbers from
across South Florida.
“We are doing better than ever in our history of the
department with compliance and that is a direct impact of
some of the things that you and others in your industry have
done as far as educating our people,” said Jenkins.
Fading is the culture of a soot-laden uniform being a badge of
honor.
“The guys wanted to look veteran.I understand that . I was
one of those guys,”said Jenkins.
“I think there has definitely been a shift. I don’t think
everybody buys into it yet…Yes I do believe there has been a
shift in the dynamics of what we are talking about,” shared
Keith Tyson who is a retired Miami Dade firefighter and cancer
survivor. He is largely credited with bringing awareness to the
risk of cancer in firehouse and after the firehouse.
Why is he so committed to it?
“I don’t want anybody to go through what I have been
through, what my brothers and sisters are going through,” he
shared with Gillen.”To refer three or four members a week to a
hospital so they can get a second opinion.”
Tyson recently returned from Boston where firefighters are
adding up their cancer casualties.
“The bad news…some of the numbers were every three weeks
a member was being diagnosed with some sort of severe type
of cancer. The good news is they reached out to us,” Tyson
said. “We developed a 90 minute program being taught to over
1,400 members of their department over the next two months
and that is huge!”
They are lessons and legacies keeping alive the memory and
mission of brothers and sisters not forgotten.
It appears those beloved lives were not lost in vain. Their
stories helped to spearhead efforts that are resulting in more
than $900 thousand being funneled by the state for pioneering
research into links between firefighting and cancer. University
of Miami researchers will be helming the project as firefighters
from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties are in
the spotlight.
