One hundred New Hampshire firefighters will be screened for cancer this week at the Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire’s convention, kicking off an effort to develop long-term, regular testing statewide.
Cancer is now the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths — representing more than 70% of them in 2023 — for firefighters in North America, according to the International Association of Firefighters. Efforts to combat that in New Hampshire are two-pronged between prevention and early detection, union President Brian Ryll said. A bipartisan bill moving smoothly through the legislature this year would fund a one-year program aiming to screen all of the Granite State’s nearly 4,000 active-duty firefighters for cancer. Ryll said the findings of that pilot will inform his organization’s push to establish a regular testing program. This week’s kickoff is just the first step.