Firefighters’ duties can take mighty toll
For firefighters, deadly flames and crumbling buildings are part of the standard job description.
But the psychological and physical wear-and-tear can take a massive toll, putting them at increased risk for health problems like heart attacks and cancer.
“There’s no question that these people who keep us safe and keep our families safe have higher health risks from a number of different mechanisms,” said Dr. Jason Wasfy, cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“If you think about people like nurses and police and firefighters, jobs where you’re serving other people,” Wasfy said, “there are health consequences.”
Joseph A. Toscano, 54, a veteran Watertown firefighter, made that sacrifice yesterday when he collapsed and died while fighting a two-alarm blaze.
Aside from the fires themselves, the job brings with it a slew of assaults to physical and mental health, Wasfy said.
The emotional stress of life-threatening situations can cause inflammation in the body, toxic chemicals inhaled can lead to various cancers, and the heavy equipment alone can be a strain on the heart.
Even working odd hours can be dangerous, he said.
The chemical cortisol surges in our bodies in the morning to give us energy, and sleep schedules that don’t align with those patterns can lead to weight gain and high risk of heart attack.
“It’s really a lot of sacrifice,” Wasfy said. “In a number of ways.”
Although firefighters have gear to prevent smoke inhalation, there is still inevitable exposure to chemicals that cause various health issues, a link researchers are still trying to understand.
Ruthann Rudel, toxicologist at Silent Spring Institute in Newton — an organization studying the effects of chemicals on health — said the established connection between air pollution and cardiovascular disease indicates there would be comparable effects for firefighters.
“It’s known that particulate matter in cities increases rates of heart attack,” she said. “In a lot of ways, smoke from a fire is very similar.”
Michelle Kannler, widow of late Chelsea firefighter Pete Kannler, said her husband is one of the many firefighters who have succumbed to job-related illnesses. Pete was 37 when he died last year of a rare and aggressive form of esophageal cancer that doctors suspect was a result of chemical inhalation.
“It’s hard because everyone thinks if firefighters die, it’s going to be because of a collapse or something directly fire-related,” Kannler said.
“There are so many other things people don’t think about,” she said. “So much physical and psychological stress that goes along with that.”