I’m Todd LeDuc, a retired Fire Chief who has spent 30 years in the American fire service, leading an internationally accredited 900-person fire department.
I retired in 2019 and went to work as the Chief Strategy Officer for Life Scan Wellness Centers, which is America’s largest provider of occupational health physicals for public safety. Co-Founders and Owners Patricia Johnson and Mike Terrana have worked on Life Scan’s vision since 1998, creating a model to address first responder health.
I then went on to assume the role of Deputy CEO about a year and a half ago and for the last two months, I have been acting in the role of CEO. This has been a great treat in my career as I to continue to help save lives of first responders, doing it with an organization that has a 27-year track record of tremendous success.
I started my career clinically as a paramedic, then went to nursing school. Clinical care has always been the foundation of my training.
Todd LeDuc
My career in healthcare was consolidated through time spent serving on several organizational health bodies. This is alongside the personal experience of losing far too many colleagues to what I believe were preventable occupational health issues.
It has been a passion throughout my service to make sure that we take care of the folks who are out there taking care of us.
Sometimes it feels like watching molasses drip, as the pace is slow.
Ten years ago, no one was talking about cancer in the fire service or firefighter service. We now see changes in practice, changes in policies and procedures, changes in equipment, apparatus design- really touching every facet of the fire service. This is not just in America, but internationally.
Prevention will always be the priority, if we can prevent something bad from happening that should always be our focus. But, until we live in a world where prevention is 100 percent effective, there is a tremendous role and a continued need for enhanced early detection.
When I look at the American fire service, the three big killers are cancer, occupational cardiac disease and firefighter suicide. At Life Scan we can screen for all of those, finding people that have early disease processes and marrying them up with appropriate treatment. We can achieve positive outcomes that otherwise might have been tragedies.
I’ll take cancer as an example; we know that typically, by the time symptoms are present that there’s been an advance of the disease process. In many cases, this means spread of cancer.
The same thing applies when someone reaches the point of contemplating taking their own life, there has likely been many precursors along the way. Whether that is depression, PTSD, poor coping mechanism, substance abuse or sleep disturbance.
Knowing that we now have strong, evidence-based data that shows that if we intervene at the earliest point, before symptoms are even present, using Life Scans enhanced screening tools we can pick up on this. This might include ultrasound imaging or behavioural health screenings.
There was a study done by the IAFC showing that only about 10% of physicals for first responders included any type of behavioral health screening. This makes no sense to me because on one hand, we have this tremendous problem and the tools to screen for depression, anxiety and PTSD yet, so few of us are utilizing them.
We recently incorporated behavioral screening into the NFPA guidelines for the medical surveillance of firefighters and first responders, knowing that the sooner we find a disease process- the better the outcome.
We also know that the earlier we intervene, the treatment is less costly. It feels like a no brainer.
Todd LeDuc
Unfortunately, in the States our health care system seems to have evolved backwards. We wait for the patient to develop symptoms and then we chase them down and come up with a diagnosis, to finally treat the end stage of symptoms.
At Life Scan we have flipped that model and aimed to intervene before symptoms occur, whether that is weight loss or managing blood pressure at the earliest stages. This could also include more frequent or earlier screenings for colon cancer or breast cancer.
We know from the NIOSH study, which commissioned over 30,000 firefighters and found that their rate of cancer was 9% higher than the generational population and a 14% higher rate of mortality, meaning that the cancers are more aggressive.
The reality is, about 40% of us are going to get cancer in our lifetime, but with firefighters this risk is increased by 9% on top of that.
For firefighters, uncontrolled blood pressure is a twelve-fold risk factor for sudden cardiac arrest. Knowing the work they perform is more rigorous and strenuous than other professions.
Todd LeDuc
Having engaged in firefighting, I can tell you, it is one of the most strenuous and stressful evolutions for the human body which affects almost every system. Whether it’s circulatory, metabolic, neurological or cardiovascular.
Annually, Life Scan see over 50,000 responders for their healthcare and we partner with academic research institutions to enhance our knowledge. Our approach to services will continue to evolve because of this.
One example here, in the U.S., would be a report I recently read on electric battery fires, lithium-ion specifically and exposures from those toxins. We are following that issue very closely, leading to us introducing an expanded lithium-ion exposure blood panel.
I look at the CEO position as a servant leader. In my first few weeks in the role, I took the time to reach out and contact every single member of our company and spend individual time with them. Here, I was able to gain feedback in terms of what we can do better to support not only them but our mission too.
I’ve had a blessed career and received many accolades and recognition, but in the CEO role, I think all the recognition goes to those that are on the front line.
I call it the tip of a spear, there is not a day that goes by that I don’t get a text, an email or a phone call to say we have just saved another life. Those are the real awardees.
My job as CEO is to be the face of the company, making sure that they have the tools that they need to continue their great work and are aligned with the needs of our customers.
Todd LeDuc
I’m blessed to have an amazing team; it makes the job easy when you have rock stars who go out and make the magic happen. The key is supporting them and making sure they are taken care of. Usually, if you treat people well then good things come from it.
The largest asset that I bring to the table as CEO is my experience working at state, regional and national level. Over three decades, it has allowed me to build a wide and encompassing network of like-minded folks that are in this space of trying to protect first responders, health, wellness and safety.
The public safety and fire service community are very tight knit, so we don’t do a lot of advertising and marketing- it is mostly word of mouth.
We have been fortunate to receive awards from the IAFC, from governors and states because the mission is so simple; saving those who save us.
