Newsmakers for June 17: Spring FD fights back against firefighter cancer rates

Life Scan program saves lives

Senior Capt. Matt Corso was shocked when his annual physical at the Spring Fire Department detected a fist-sized tumor in his abdomen.

“I had no symptoms,” he said. “No health issues, no nothing. My doctor speculated I was about 8 to 10 weeks away from feeling symptoms.”

Corso benefited from the Spring Fire Department's program that includes a required Life Scan body scan for all Spring firefighters.

Chief Scott Seifert says the $500 cost per person is more than worth it.

Learn more about Matt Corso’s story by clicking here.

The Spring Fire Department's use of a medical sauna is also a part of their process to purge possibly cancer-causing toxins.

“After a fire the crews go back in groups of four,” Seifert said. “There’s a stationary bike inside the sauna, there’s four of them. The crew goes in there for 10 to 15 minutes and they sweat the toxins out.”

Career and Recovery Resources breaks barriers

It’s called Barrier Breakers and the 22nd Annual Luncheon sponsored by Career and Recovery Resources on June 25th will honor Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and wife Gwen, and Arthur and Philamena Baird for their Corporate and Community contributions.

The bigger story is the role played by Career and Recovery Resources in removing barriers for those whose lives have been negatively impacted. CEO Vernus Swisher is a guest on Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall and says his organization’s holistic approach changes lives.

Kathy Griffin Grinan says after 22 attempts at rehab, it was Career and Recovery Resources that worked.

“Sick people make other people sick. Hurt people hurt other people,” she said. “It was not until I had that whole holistic packaging that Career Recovery gave me that took me from behind a trash dumpster to being the human trafficking director at Precinct one today.”

About Accelerated Literacy Learning

Susan Radley Brown says everyone has a story to tell, and write about. The challenge is getting them to understand it and embrace it.

She founded Accelerated Literacy Learning to convince students and their teachers that life is a series of little events that add up to make a difference. Her program has students actually researching and writing books. You can see some examples of their work by clicking here and here.

More information

Chief Scott Seifert, Spring Fire Department

  • https://bit.ly/2tctSOp
  • Phone:281-355-1266
  • Twitter: @Sprinfdtx

Matt Corso, Senior Captain, Spring Fire Department

  • https://bit.ly/2tctSOp
  • Phone: 281-355-1266
  • Twitter: @Springfdtx

Vernus Swisher, D. Min, CEO Career and Recovery Resources

  • https://bit.ly/2LTcMwI
  • Phone: 713-754-7000
  • Twitter: @CareerRecovery

Kathy Griffin Grinan 

  • https://pct1constable.net
  • Phone: 281-407-2500
  • Email: Erica.davis@cn1.hctx.net
  • Twitter: @Pct1Constable

Susan Radley Brown, Founder Accelerated Literacy Learning

  • https://www.acceleratedliteracylearning.com/
  • Phone: 212-265-0735
  • Email: Susan@AcceleratedLiteracylearning.com
  • Twitter: @all_literacy