Plano firefighters would keep getting yearly medical exams aimed at the illnesses their work puts them at risk for, under a contract the City Council is scheduled to consider Monday, Nov. 9.
The award would go to Life Extension Clinics Inc., which does business as Life Scan Wellness Centers. It has given Plano Fire-Rescue's annual wellness exams since the city first bought the service in 2017. The new deal is one year with nine optional one-year renewals. If every renewal is used, the city estimates it would spend $3,885,200.
The yearly cost starts at $354,200 in the 2026-27 budget year, rises to $368,500 and then $382,800, and reaches $397,100 a year from 2029-30 through 2035-36, according to the staff report. The money comes from the fire department's budget.
What the exams include
The program follows a National Fire Protection Association standard for emergency responder health, NFPA 1580. The fire department's list of tests includes a medical and exposure history, a physical, blood work and urinalysis, vision and hearing tests, lung-function testing, an ECG and treadmill stress test, immunizations and infectious disease screening, and cancer screenings. A chest X-ray is done every five years.
Firefighters face different health risks than most city workers, the department wrote, and the general physical offered to all employees does not test for the illnesses linked to the job. According to the staff report, the firefighter exams have caught cancer, heart conditions and other problems before they became catastrophic.
The department also argues the program saves money over time by cutting sick time and the cost of treating disease that is found late. Without it, the report says, a firefighter's job-related illness could go undiagnosed.
