Wellness center outlines PFAS testing, turnout and 'clean cab' steps to reduce firefighter cancer risk

Heather Edespan, clinic administrator for the Public Safety Wellness Center, told the Public Safety Commission that the center provides oversight of annual exams and targeted screenings intended to detect early signs of disease among first responders.

Edespan said the Wellness Center performs baseline tests that can prompt referral for further evaluation — spirometry, urinalysis, prostate specific antigen (PSA) checks, thyroid tests and blood work — and that clinicians discuss age‑ and history‑appropriate screening such as mammography or colonoscopy during annual exams. “Though they’re not cancer screenings in and of themselves, they do help identify abnormalities that will then allow our physician to refer our first responders out for additional screening or testing as needed,” Edespan said.

Edespan said Central Austin Dermatology Group provides monthly skin‑cancer screenings at the Wellness Center, and that the center extended…