By Caitlin Dee
The Daily News of Newburyport
AMESBURY, Mass. — Keeping local firefighters heart healthy just got a little easier after the City Council recently authorized Amesbury Mayor Kassandra Gove to accept a grant that supports cardiac screenings for 17 members of the Amesbury Fire Department.
The $14,858 comes from the city’s health insurance provider, the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association (MIIA).
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Amesbury Fire Chief Rob Serino called the funding “absolutely important” for his firefighters.
“It’s crazy the amount of increase in percentages that firefighters are at risk for cancer, for other illnesses, cardiac defects and cardiogenic issues, as well as stroke risk and everything,” he said.
Serino said he was glad to work with the organization to ensure these screenings.
“It’s amazing for us to get funding like this and I’m really happy to partner with MIIA to make this a reality, so that way we can start getting our members full-scale evaluations, and make sure that we’re taking care of our people, and that’s the biggest goal,” he said.
Jayne Brown , MIIA wellness program manager, said the organization was glad to give the significant grant to the department.
“Both of these screenings are expensive, so for us to help them pay for them, it’s just a really nice gift we can give back to them,” she said of the screening options offered through the grant.
Serino said Amesbury Fire Lt. David Carpentier wrote and applied for the grant, which was awarded in February.
“He’ll now work with MIIA to get all that stuff scheduled and work through getting it all processed,” he said.
The screenings are expected to take place in late spring and will be offered at the Amesbury Fire Department.
Due to the fact that only 17 of the department’s 39 firefighters will be able to be screened through the grant, Serino said participants will be chosen on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Though not all firefighters will be screened this year, Serino said the department hopes to see all members participate in a screening in the future.
“The goal is that we’re actually going to get everybody screened over the next couple of years. We’ll be working with MIIA to get more funding for this throughout the course of the next couple years,” he said.
Serino also said the council authorizing Gove to accept and expend the grant comes at a significant time for the firefighting community, making the news even better.
“This week is ‘First Responder Wellness Week’ so, actually, it’s great that the City Council got to approve it during this week, because I think that really shows the true stride and initiatives that we’re trying to push as both a department and community to make sure that we’re taking care of our public safety personnel,” he said, on Thursday.
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