Each day firefighters across Pennsylvania, like Lehigh Township Assistant Chief Brian Krische, risk their lives to keep us safe.
A bill moving through Pennsylvania’s House aims to protect firefighters from a risk you cannot see: cancer.
“I think if this went through, it would be a gift for any firefighters who are out there and anybody should be taking advantage of something like this,” said Krische.
The bill would create a statewide program to provide free annual cancer screenings to career and volunteer firefighters in Pennsylvania. According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, firefighters are nine percent more likely to get cancer and 14 percent more likely to die from it than the general population. This is something Krische said his department tragically saw up close.
“May 19th, 2024, one of our firefighters was lost to occupational cancer, so it’s out there and it gets around and a lot of times unfortunately it’s too late,” said Krische.
This latest bill proposed by Montgomery County-based State Rep. Joe Ciresi unanimously passed the House, Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, all in an effort to extinguish the risk of cancer early.
“You know, don’t wait until it happens, get ahead of the cancer, do screenings, do your physicals and all that,” said Krische.
There is no word yet on when the bill will be considered on the House floor.