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SF Fire Department proposes pilot cancer‑screening program for active firefighters
Summary
Battalion Chief Matthew Alba outlined a pilot to offer advanced cancer screening to active firefighters, funded initially by a $500,000 city allocation and private donations permitted under a six‑month behested‑payment waiver the Board of Supervisors approved in September.
Battalion Chief Matthew Alba, head of the San Francisco Fire Department’s Division of Health, Safety and Wellness, told the Fire Commission on Oct. 8 that the department is designing a pilot program to provide advanced cancer screening for active firefighters.
Alba said the city has allocated $500,000 toward a pilot aimed primarily at active firefighters age 40 and older with at least five years of service, and that a temporary waiver of the city’s behested‑payment ordinance approved by the Board of Supervisors on Sept. 18 will permit soliciting private donations to expand the effort. “No firefighter should have to wait for an emergency to reveal what could have been caught earlier,” Alba said.
Why it matters: Firefighters face elevated cancer risk from job‑related exposures; early detection can change treatment and outcomes. Alba framed the pilot as a move from crisis response toward prevention and asked the commission to…
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