New medical exams required for Alaska federal firefighters
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) – People wanting to fight wildfires in Alaska will have to submit to a medical examination before working for the federal government’s Alaska Fire Service.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the new requirement applies to those jobs with the federal Bureau of Land Management. The rule doesn’t apply to the state emergency firefighter program.
Firefighters will be able to get free exams through a mobile medical team that plans to visit about 28 villages, beginning in November.
The federal medical requirement has been in place for two years, but Alaska had been exempt. The medical exams will be required every three years, beginning in 2019.
The exams will include vision and hearing tests, a blood draw and a urine test, but not a drug test.