I have always held public safety employees a cut above the rest for placing their lives on the line for all of us every single day. When an issue of particular concern to, say, our firefighters, arises, I will gladly open this forum to those making the case or simply trying to better inform us all about the things they have to face on a daily basis. The following short piece is a case in point.

When I received an e-mail from a reader requesting me to post something of importance to the public, and especially fiefighters, I felt happy to oblige. So, Matthew Phillips, tell your family to look now, your article has been included! Thanks!

Fumble around for the snooze button. Can't find it. Sleep through alarm for 10 more minutes. Make coffee. Fall asleep while making coffee. Pour cereal. Read the back of the box for the 12th time. Take a shower. Yawn. Realize it's your day off. Use a substitute swear word. Go back to bed.


A sort of good day.

But with that yawn, you could have changed your life forever. What's wrong with breathing? Nothing at all. It's the air you have to watch out for.
In older buildings and homes, manufacturers used a natural mineral called asbestos. It can still be found in dry wall and in insulation in those homes. Asbestos is fire-resistant and heat-resistant, and was supposed to make a lot of homes safer for a lot of people.

Today, when those homes are disturbed, for example, as a firefighter breaks down the walls of a burning building, or, less dramatically, if insulation is tampered with, asbestos fibers are released into the air. When inhaled, they may cause a deadly cancer to attack the lungs: mesothelioma.


Mesothelioma symptoms can include shortness of breath and chest heaviness. These symptoms subtle and are often confused with other more common, more treatable diseases. Even worse, mesothelioma symptoms are subject to extremely long latency periods, often for nonexistent for up to 50 years. By then, the cancer has metastasized and treatment is either difficult or impossible. The life expectancy of mesothelioma victims is incredibly short.
So what should you do about it? Stop breathing? Of course not. Ask questions. If you think your home may be asbestos-ridden, don't handle the stuff yourself. Call a professional asbestos abatement contractor. They're trained to deal with the deadly mineral.

Keep your eyes and ears open to information and you can live to see a whole pile of sort of good days.