Comal County is proposing confidential annual occupational cancer screenings at no cost to covered firefighters starting no later than their fifth year of county employment.
Covered Comal County firefighters would be offered screening every year, with chest X-rays offered every five years and individual results sent directly to the firefighter. The county would receive only limited administrative information and non-identifiable program data.
The proposal is not final. The Aug. 20 Commissioners Court agenda places the policy under item 28 and schedules a separate line-item transfer for required medical screenings under item 29. The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. in the county courtroom at 100 Main Plaza in New Braunfels.
The draft covers qualifying full-time, part-time and volunteer firefighters employed or appointed by Comal County. It does not extend the county policy to firefighters employed by a city, emergency services district, independent volunteer department or another political subdivision merely because they respond inside the county.
The minimum annual package would include cancer testing aligned with applicable NFPA standards, a urine test, pulmonary-function test, electrocardiogram, infectious-disease screening, a blood test and breast-cancer screening when clinically applicable. A chest X-ray would be offered during the applicable five-year cycle.
Participation would be voluntary unless a separate lawful occupational examination requirement applied. A firefighter could participate, seek another appointment or decline without providing a medical reason. Declining one annual offer would not waive the firefighter’s right to receive another offer during a later cycle.
If commissioners approve it, the policy would take effect immediately and apply to the first available screening cycle. The county’s Aug. 20 action will establish whether the proposed benefit becomes policy; implementation details such as the covered headcount, annual spending and medical provider remain questions for the county to document.