A team of public health researchers from the Rutgers University School of Public Health and NDRI-USA, Inc.’s Center for Fire, Rescue & EMS Health Research have partnered with Johnson County Fire Protection District, Johnson County Fire Protection District 2, Holden Fire Department and Knob Noster Fire Department to study health risk factors and firefighting-related exposures among volunteer firefighters.

Johnson County Fire Protection District officials say the project, known as the Firefighter Cancer Assessment & Prevention Study (CAPS), seeks to improve the health and safety of firefighters.

Recent studies have found that firefighters are diagnosed with and die from some types of cancers more often than other men and women in the United States. However, while more than two-thirds of U.S. firefighters are volunteers, most of this research has focused on career firefighters. Researchers seek to determine if cancer risk factors and firefighting-related exposures differ among volunteer firefighters; And if they do, how they do.

“We were approached by the researchers conducting this study and we sought voluntary participants from our firefighting staff,” JCFPD Fire Chief Larry Jennings said. “We had 21 of our local firefighters volunteer who are actively participating which included a health survey and blood and urine analysis.”

The research study, expected to take 30 years to complete, is done at no cost to the participating firefighters or their agencies.