Firefighters face many risks in their line of work, one being an increased risk of cancer after the death of a Northern Kentucky firefighter in his 40s.

Saint Elizabeth Health Care launched a program to provide cancer screenings to fire service workers.

Our Emily Sisk has more in tonight's medical news.

Jim Schaefer is an assistant fire chief with the Edgewood Fire Department in northern Kentucky.

Schaefer has been working in the fire service for more than 30 years.

When I say I started, I was 18 years old, you know, they didn't talk about cancer.

They didn't talk about any of the the high risks.

In fact, Schaefer said, embracing dangerous situations was considered a symbol of hard work.

You know, back in the day, the dirtier your helmet, the dirtier your gear meant.

The harder you were working.

And it was a badge of courage back then.

But as the years have gone by, the assistant fire chief says he's seen firsthand the deadly effects of the job.

I've been to more funerals, and I can count for friends, coworkers, people that I have known in the fire service that have passed away in their 50s to 60s from cancer.

Doctor Mike ski with Saint Elizabeth says firefighters are 9% more likely to get cancer than the general population, and 14% more likely to die from their cancer than others who are diagnosed.

With all these things in mind.

Saint Elizabeth launched a firefighter cancer screening program to provide early detection for the emergency workers in Northern Kentucky.

Doctor Geist said the program was put into action after the death of Captain Travis Ransom with the Union Fire Department.

At 47 years of age, he was diagnosed with stage four adenocarcinoma.

At that time, watery had widely metastatic lung cancer.

He died 26 months later.

Despite the best treatment and that's what we don't want to see.

We want to try to catch it in stage one when it's you have a greater than 90% chance of curing that cancer.

Saint Elizabeth launched the cancer screening program last fall, piloting the program with the Union and Fort Mitchell fire departments.

Now, seven months later, a dozen fire departments have gotten on board, including in southeast Indiana and Cincinnati.

We've done about 65 to 70 low dose CT lung cancer screenings.

Assistant Fire Chief Jim Schaefer was one of the participants who completed his chest Cat scan.

Doctor Geist said the test is the easiest cancer screening they do.

You can usually leave the clothes on that you had on when you walked into the department.

Nothing gets put in.

You up, you down, you're through you.

Nothing gets squeezed.

It takes three minutes.

It's one breath.

Hold for a few seconds and then you're in and out of the scanner within three minutes.

If there is something abnormal, you're going to know about it pretty quickly.

And then we've got a whole team, you know, that's there to help you.

Emily Fogel, a nurse practitioner with Saint Elizabeth, helps advocate for fire departments to join the program.

She has a special connection, as her husband has spent 18 years in the fire service.

Over the years, it's been really difficult trying to find a provider for my husband to see that actually knew knew what to screen for.

For Jim Schaefer, the screening brings peace of mind that he can continue his job and has many years left to spend with his friends and family.

Having something for early detection, I think, is vital if you want to be in this field.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Emily Sisk.