February 7, 2020
-To work on building State and Federal relationships to promote physical and wellbeing for you, our members.
-Achieved through the collaboration of several groups to form the South Carolina Firefighter Cancer Coalition
-Focusing on firefighter cancer, prevention, and health by collecting data to help build our relationships.
-Introduce firefighter cancer legislation that will benefit Volunteer & Career Firefighters
-Achieved this week, February 4, 2020 with the introduction of Senate bill - S.1071 “Firefighter Cancer Health Care Benefit Plan”. I anticipate the House will introduce its bill in the coming week.
-Continue to work on This Is My Fight Campaign, and to work on a new concept of “Best Practices” videos that discuss cancer, safety, and health-related issues.
-To work on a future one-day Health & Safety Summit for education for our members.
According to the CDC, estimates between October 1, 2019, through January 4, 2020, there could be 4,800-12,000 flu deaths. As of January 16, 2020, 34 flu related deaths have been reported in South Carolina. The H&S committee asks that our South Carolina firefighters take three actions to protect against the flu.-Get Vaccinated
-Take Preventive Steps
-Seek Treatment
I wanted to take a few minutes of your time to give you our members a few details on what your Health and Safety Committee is working on for this upcoming year. I hope to see you at our forthcoming SCSFA Fire Service Improvement Conference, Legislative Day, and, finally, our upcoming Fire-Rescue 2020 Conference. I ask you to be careful, be healthy, and be safe! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me by email: [email protected].