Two worlds collide: Guelph/Eramosa Fire Chief using findings as cancer researcher to protect firefighters

Whether it’s in the lab or on the frontlines, Jim Petrik is dedicated to saving lives.

The newly-appointed chief of the Guelph/Eramosa Fire Department is also a cancer researcher at the University of Guelph (U of G).

“I’ve had these two parallel tracks in my life where I've been a cancer researcher and I've been working in the fire service. And they haven't been directly intertwined until recently,” Petrik said.

As a professor at U of G, he’s been working to manipulate blood vessels that feed cancerous tumours. By re-establishing a good blood supply to the tumour when the patient receives chemotherapy or immunotherapy, his team has seen as much as a 500 per cent increase in the amount of therapy taken into the tumour.

“Predominantly, we've been working on ovarian and pancreatic cancers,” he explained. “So we're looking at ways, that when people are diagnosed with those advanced stage cancers, are there things that we can do to help induce regression and elimination of disease?”

Petrik’s role as chief with the volunteer fire department coincides with his area of study. He’s been taking his findings back to the field to help better protect firefighters, who are known to have high rates of cancer.

He said it’s now understood that wearing masks is simply not enough because there are more risks than just lung cancer.

“We've identified in a presumptive way there's 19 other cancers that have been definitively linked to firefighting activities,” Petrik said.

His team is working to identify what barriers stand in the way of firefighters adopting preventative measures.

“One of the things we find is that if a fire hall doesn't have a industrial strength washing machine and dryer, that's a critical factor because one of the things we really promote is, once you get back to the fire hall, immediately wash your bunker gear,” he said.

Protocols have shifted to more of an aggressive decontamination before firefighters remove their breathing apparatus. He’s also pushing for earlier screening with primary care physicians.

“You know, the unfortunate thing is I've been to the funerals of a number of firefighters that that I've worked with in the past that have passed away from cancer and it's a really sobering part of the job,” Petrik said.

It’s why he’s focused on fighting both fires and cancer.