A recent donation made to the American Township Fire Department is expected to help the squad decrease their risk for cancer.
A small detox unit was given to the fire department by Kerns Fireplace & Spa. According to research done by the Firefighter Cancer Support Network, cancer is the number one killer for firefighters, beating out cardiac arrest, and that every five degrees the body heats up, the rate that the body absorbs carcinogens goes up 400%. The detox unit will become part of the firefighter's routine after calls.
"The idea is to come back after a fire, we wash our gear, we report the exposure that we've had, and then we get in the detox unit one at a time and we slowly start detoxing our body and trying to get these toxins and things off of our body," explained Matt Dillon, American Township Fire Department Platoon Chief.
American Fire Department will be holding an open house this Sunday, September 24, 2017, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 2110 Edgewood Drive.
