Professional Health Services

10/05/2026

🚒 They prepare to protect us. We should prepare to protect them.

During Fire Prevention Week, much of the conversation is understandably about preventing fires, protecting communities, and being prepared when emergencies happen.

But there's another side of prevention worth talking about:

Protecting the people who answer the call.

Firefighting can place significant demands on the body—from strenuous physical activity and cardiovascular stress to smoke, combustion products, disrupted sleep, and other occupational exposures encountered over the course of a career.

Some risks are immediate.

Others may develop over years.

That's why firefighter health shouldn't begin only when symptoms appear or an injury occurs.

A comprehensive approach to occupational health can include appropriate medical evaluations, cardiovascular risk assessment, cancer-risk awareness and screening when appropriate, exposure-informed medical surveillance, diagnostic evaluation, and a clear pathway for clinical follow-up when something needs a closer look.

The goal isn't simply to complete an annual requirement.

It's to help firefighters protect the health they'll need for the next call, the rest of their career, and the life that comes after it.

This Fire Prevention Week, as we recognize those who work every day to protect our communities, let's keep prevention focused on them, too.

🚒 Prepared for the call. Protected for the career.

Building Healthier Workforces

10/02/2026

🎀 Breast Cancer Awareness Month is about more than wearing pink.Its an opportunity to understand your individual risk, pay attention to changes in your body, and know when its time to talk with a medical professional.

Breast cancer screening isn't necessarily the same for every person. Age, personal and family history, genetic risk, previous findings, and other factors can influence when screening begins and which evaluations may be appropriate.

And screening shouldn't replace awareness of changes. A new lump, changes in the breast or ni**le, skin changes, or something that simply isn't normal for you deserves a conversation with a medical professional.

👚 This October, dont stop at awareness.Know your risk. Know your body. Know your next step.

Building Healthier Workforces

10/02/2026

Maryland counties, fire departments and public-safety organizations have a new opportunity to expand access to innovative cancer screening for professional and volunteer firefighters.

The Maryland Department of Health has opened applications for its Volunteer and Professional Firefighters Innovative Cancer Screening Technologies Program, with total awards not to exceed $900,000 statewide.

But the application involves more than choosing a screening test. Applicants need to address the screening technology and services, implementation, healthcare-team involvement, firefighter prioritization, clinical follow-up and reporting.

📅 Maryland application deadline: November 20, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. EST

Organizations requesting PHS assistance with grant writing and application development should contact us by November 1. PHS can continue providing program, service and implementation support after that date.

🔗 Read: https://phsmobile.com/2026/09/28/maryland-firefighter-cancer-screening-grant/

Learn what fire departments need to know about Maryland’s firefighter cancer screening grant, including eligibility, funding, requirements and deadlines.

10/01/2026

🍂 Welcome to October.

A new month brings new opportunities to talk about health—and October gives us plenty to talk about.

Throughout the month, we'll explore breast health, liver health, cardiovascular and stroke risk, mental well-being, health literacy, occupational health, infection prevention, and workforce preparedness.

We'll also recognize Fire Prevention Week and the firefighters who protect our communities, while continuing an important conversation about protecting the health of those who serve.

Some of these topics involve recognizing changes.

Some involve knowing your individual risk.

Others are about understanding test results, asking better questions, keeping up with appropriate preventive care, or creating workplaces that support healthier employees.

That's what connects them.

Awareness has value—but understanding what to do with that awareness matters even more.

This October, we'll focus on helping employees and organizations:

🔎 Know more about health risks.
🩺 Understand when evaluation may be appropriate.
💬 Ask questions and understand health information.
❤️ Make prevention part of long-term health.
🛡️ Build healthier, more prepared workplaces.

Know. Understand. Act.

Building Healthier Workforces

09/23/2026

❤️ Your arteries matter from head to toe.

When we talk about cardiovascular health, the heart often gets most of the attention.

But circulation is a whole-body health story.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) occurs when narrowed arteries reduce blood flow, most commonly to the legs. Some people may experience leg pain or cramping with activity, unusual fatigue, changes in skin temperature or color, or wounds that are slow to heal. Others may have few or no noticeable symptoms.

PAD also shares several risk factors with cardiovascular disease, including smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, age, and family history.

That's why changes in circulation shouldn't automatically be dismissed as simply getting older, being tired, or having sore muscles from work.

Persistent or concerning changes deserve a conversation with a medical professional.

For firefighters, public-safety professionals, and other physically demanding occupations, understanding cardiovascular and vascular health can be an important part of a broader preventive-health strategy.

🫀 Heart health doesn't stop at the heart.

Know your risk. Pay attention to changes. Understand your circulation.

Building Healthier Workforces

09/22/2026

🦋 Your thyroid may be small. Its role isn't.

September is Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month, an opportunity to pay attention to thyroid health and understand which changes may deserve a conversation with a medical professional.

A new lump or swelling in the neck, persistent hoarseness or voice changes, difficulty swallowing, or other persistent changes shouldn't automatically be assumed to mean cancer—but they shouldn't simply be ignored either.

Personal and family history can also be important when evaluating thyroid health.

For firefighters, first responders, and other workers with occupational exposures, cancer awareness is an important part of the broader conversation about long-term health. But awareness doesn't mean that everyone needs the same test or screening strategy.

It means knowing your history, recognizing changes, and understanding when further evaluation may be appropriate.

When clinically indicated, diagnostic imaging such as thyroid ultrasound can provide medical professionals with additional information about the thyroid and findings that may need further evaluation.

🩺 Awareness isn't about assuming something is wrong. It's about knowing when something deserves a closer look.

Professional Health Services
Building Healthier Workforces

09/18/2026

🌿 Healthy aging starts long before retirement.

At 25, health may be about building strength and establishing good habits.

At 35 or 45, the picture may begin to change. Work demands accumulate. Health history evolves. Risk factors can emerge.

By 55 or 65, the choices and preventive steps taken throughout a career can matter even more.

That's why healthy aging isn't simply about getting older. It's about **paying attention to your health as it changes over time.**

For firefighters, public-safety professionals, healthcare workers, industrial employees, municipal workers, and others, a career can also mean years of physical demands, occupational exposures, shift schedules, stress, and other job-specific factors.

Your health strategy should evolve with you.

🩺 Keep up with appropriate preventive care.
📋 Know your health history and changing risk factors.
💪 Pay attention to how your body responds to the demands of your work.
🌿 Think about the health you'll need not only for your career—but for everything you want to do after it.

During Healthy Aging Month, remember:

Don't wait until the end of your career to invest in the health you'll need when you get there.

Building Healthier Workforces

09/16/2026

❤️ **Know your cholesterol. Know your risk.**

When someone says their cholesterol is “good” or “high,” they may be talking about just one number.

But cardiovascular risk is more complex than total cholesterol alone.

LDL-C, HDL-C and triglycerides provide important information. For some individuals, additional markers such as ApoB and Lp(a) may provide further insight when clinically appropriate.

And even those numbers are only part of the picture.

Blood pressure, blood glucose, age, family and medical history, smoking, and other individual risk factors can all contribute to understanding cardiovascular health.

For firefighters and other public-safety professionals, this conversation is particularly important. The physical demands of the job, occupational exposures, disrupted sleep, stress, and traditional cardiovascular risk factors can intersect over the course of a career.

But the message applies to every workforce:

Know your numbers—but don't stop at the numbers.

Understanding risk means looking at the individual and the bigger picture, then working with a medical professional to determine what those results mean for you.

During National Cholesterol Education Month, take the opportunity to know more than your total cholesterol.

🫀 A number provides information. Risk is understood in context.

Building Healthier Workforces

09/14/2026

💙 September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

Prostate cancer doesn't always announce itself with symptoms. That's one reason understanding your individual risk matters.

Age, family history, genetics, and other personal health factors can influence risk—and the right approach to screening may not be the same for everyone.

For firefighters, public-safety professionals, and the broader workforce, awareness should be more than recognizing a blue ribbon. It should encourage conversations about health history, risk factors, changes worth discussing, and whether screening is appropriate.

A PSA blood test may be part of that conversation, but a test alone doesn't determine the entire picture. Results need to be considered alongside the individual's age, history, risk factors, and clinical circumstances.

🩺 Start with the conversation. Understand your risk. Make an informed decision with a medical professional.

Because awareness has the greatest value when it leads to appropriate action.

Building Healthier Workforces

09/11/2026

25 years. We remember.

On September 11, 2001, our nation witnessed extraordinary loss—and extraordinary courage.

We remember the lives taken that day.

We honor the firefighters, police officers, EMS professionals, military personnel, first responders, and ordinary citizens who ran toward danger to help others.

And 25 years later, we remember that the impact of September 11 did not end when the smoke cleared.

We honor the rescue, recovery, and cleanup workers whose service continued in the days and months that followed—and all those who have faced lasting health consequences because of that service.

For those we lost.
For those who answered the call.
For those who continue to carry its impact.

We remember. We honor. We will never forget.

September 11, 2001 — September 11, 2026