PHOTOS: In a first for Pennsylvania, Bethlehem firefighters are undergoing a new two-minute screening that could help detect esophageal cancer before itโs too late. About a dozen present and retired members of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 735 on Thursday gathered at their union hall, 53 E. Lehigh St., for a second day of pre-cancer screenings.
โWeโre learning so much more now over the past 10, 20 years of just whatโs in all the smoke weโre exposed to, all the plastics nowadays,โ Local 735 1st Platoon Vice President Thomas Hart said. Hart helped arrange the testing in partnership with Lucid Diagnostics โ the first case of these particular pre-cancer screenings in Pennsylvania, he said.
โWe hope that other departments in the state see the initiative taken by Local 735 and the City of Bethlehem Fire Department,โ Fire Chief Michael Reich said. โHopefully they follow our lead and it spreads out across the state.โ
