By Brian Trompeter
Firefighter Ryan McGill of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department since 2018 has researched cancer risks to those in his profession and advocated for them to take stronger protective measures and scrupulously document exposure to potentially harmful substances.
“As modern building materials have changed, our exposures have increased because more things are made of synthetic materials,” said McGill, 42. “The whole goal was to try and prevent preventable exposures, the ones we can control. We have a duty to respond to 911 calls and we really can’t control what’s burning in some of the houses. But we can control our training environment somewhat.”
McGill was among those honored by Gov. Youngkin at the 2022 Governor’s Fire Service Awards, held Feb. 22 during the annual Virginia Fire Chiefs Association Expo and Symposium in Virginia Beach. McGill received a flame-shaped, engraved glass trophy for his efforts.
The Cleveland native, who now lives in King George, Va., began his firefighting career in northeast Ohio and a little more than 17 years ago joined the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, where he took further training to become a paramedic. He currently works on A Shift at Fire Station 435 in Pohick.
McGill became interested in firefighting at an early age from an uncle who was a firefighter in Upstate New York. The profession allows him to have different experiences every day and help people – including now his colleagues.
“This is about the people who are being diagnosed and ensuring that we take care of them and their families,” McGill said.
His efforts have led him to work closely with the Firefighter Cancer Support Network and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). McGill has been the point person in a group undertaking to reduce cancer risk, said Robert Young, president of IAFF Local 2068, Fairfax County Professional Firefighters and Paramedics.
The group has succeeded in modifying state law to provide presumptive health coverage for fire-and-rescue personnel suffering from 12 kinds of work-related cancer.
Young and McGill also collaborated on obtaining a statewide ban on burning oriented strand board (OSB) during fire-service training. The material, made from wood particles held together by glue, contains known carcinogens.
The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department provides its personnel with more protective equipment than many agencies do, Young said.
“When we go into a contaminated environment or a fire, we have the benefit to send our gear in and have it professionally cleaned,” he said. “We have a second set of gear we can use while we wait for that to come back.”
But fire personnel also must take actions after calls to reduce their cancer risk further, including showering immediately, decontaminating their equipment and reporting and tracking any potentially hazardous exposures, Young said. Such data, recorded and reported consistently, will be vital in future cancer-fighting efforts, he said.
“We have to look at it holistically and it starts at the beginning of your career,” Young said.
The Fire and Rescue Department in early 2022 had 176 participants undergo ultrasound diagnostic scans to look for structural abnormalities in their bodies that their standard annual physicals might not detect. Participants underwent an echocardiogram and carotid doppler, abdominal aorta, thyroid, liver, gall bladder, spleen, bladder and kidney scans. The men also were administered a testicular scan and women received an exterior pelvic scan.
The results were eye-opening, with 101 participants (57 percent) registering at least one abnormal result. Twenty-two percent had actionable findings pertaining to the liver; 18 percent to the thyroid; 7 percent to the cardiac area; 6 percent to the pelvic region; 5 percent each for the gallbladder, spleen and kidney; 2 percent for the bladder; and 1 percent each for the aorta and carotid. Tests detected actionable findings in the testicular area for 13 percent of the male participants.
With the success of the pilot ultrasound program, the department obtained a $450,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide such cancer screenings – which formerly cost members $300 – free of charge for all personnel during their annual physicals, or out-of-cycle if necessary, McGill said.
Career and volunteer firefighters, as well as those who have retired from such work within the past five years, are eligible for the screenings.
Some technological advances have improved firefighters’ gear, including a protective blocking hood that reduces exposure to hazardous chemicals. But firefighters’ personal protective equipment is not encapsulating, and has known weak spots where carcinogens and toxic gases still can get through.
Firefighting now is associated with higher cancer risk, similar to how smokers are categorized. County fire officials use a “tetrahedron” approach to cancer that combines early detection, prevention, education, research and advocacy, McGill said.
McGill has been working with fire personnel across the nation to do better for firefighters, Young said.
“Ryan McGill has a burning desire and a tenacious approach,” he said. “His efforts are relentless when it comes to spreading the word, getting the knowledge and the education out there and identifying things that could be potentially future issues so we can try to get ahead of them.”
