Neebing’s fire chief is urging the province to add medical first responders to a list of crew members eligible for compensation should they become ill with cancer following exposure to carcinogenic materials at emergency scenes.
In a letter last month to various provincial agencies, including the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), fire Chief Mark Shruiff said the medical responder position’s current omission from the WSIB’s policy manual for occupational diseases is an oversight that needs to be corrected.
“During fire operations, whether it be structural, wildland, or vehicle, medical first responders are on site,” Shruiff notes in the letter.
Shruiff said care of firefighters or the injured at a scene by medical first responders was “historically completed without the aid of proper personal protective equipment, (such as) examination gloves (and) surgical type masks.”
“This placed medical responders at an even greater risk than firefighters for exposure to carcinogenic matter,” Shruiff said.
The absence of the position in the WSIB manual “places this group at a greater risk of not having the proper support during cancer diagnosis and treatment,” Shruiff said.
In his letter, Shruiff gives the province credit for providing funding so that rural fire departments like his can install decontamination equipment at fire halls.
Shruiff’s letter was also sent to four other parties, including MPP Kevin Holland (Thunder Bay-Atikokan), who is a former volunteer firefighter, and Ontario Fire Marshal Jon Pegg.
