National Firefighter Registry (NFR) for Cancer Quarterly Newsletter (Summer 2023)

NIOSH published an article in the Synergist about the NFR. The American Industrial Hygiene Association’s Synergist is a magazine that publishes in-depth news and information about the occupational and environmental health and safety fields and the industrial hygiene profession.

The article “Introducing the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer” provides background information on our current understanding of cancer in the fire service, identifies knowledge gaps, and explains how the NFR works. The target audience for this article includes industrial hygienists and occupational health professionals, who play an important role in advancing firefighter safety and health research.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) published their full review of the literature that led to their classification of firefighting as a Group 1 Known Carcinogen. Dr. Fent was a member of the IARC committee that contributed to this review.

A webinar hosted by the NORA Chronic Disease Council will be held on September 27, 2023, at 11 AM EST. The webinar will feature several key members of the IARC Working Group, including Kenny Fent and other NIOSH researchers, discussing how they evaluated firefighter exposures, associated cancers, and what intervention and prevention strategies are available. Spanish and English captioning will be available. Archived copies of the webinar in Spanish and English will be posted to CDC YouTube in late 2023.

• On April 13, Kenny Fent and Alex Mayer attended and presented at the Wave Conference in Austin, Texas, which is a conference focused on data in the emergency services.
• On April 23-April 28, Kenny Fent and Alex Mayer attended the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) in Indianapolis, Indiana. Kenny Fent announced the launch of the NFR during the opening session on April 27. Key representatives from the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, Firefighter Cancer Support Network, and FDIC joined NIOSH in making this announcement. The NFR also had an exhibit booth where more information about the NFR was handed out to several thousand attendees and where firefighters could receive help in enrolling.
  

  Announcement at FDIC. From left to right: Andy Pantelis (IAFF), Victor Stagnaro (NFFF), Kenny Fent (NIOSH), David Rhodes (FDIC), and Joe Schumacher (FCSN).

• On May 10, Kenny Fent and Andrea Wilkinson participated in the NFR partner promotion call with numerous fire service leaders to provide information on the various resources available for promoting the NFR.
• On May 22-23, June 12 and 14, Kenny Fent, Lauralynn McKernan, the Director of the NIOSH Division of Field Studies and Engineering, and Tina Lawson, the Chief of the Field Research Branch, updated 21 U.S. Representatives and Senators staffers from 14 states about the NFR.
  

  Kenny Fent and Lauralynn McKernan, Director of the Division of Field Studies and Engineering, outside the Hart Senate Building in Washington, DC after several meetings with Congressional staffers.

• On May 24, Kenny Fent gave an update about the NFR to the Congressional Fire Services Institute National Advisory Committee, which is composed of more than 35 trade groups, issue organizations, and professional associations in the fire and emergency services.
• On June 8, Kenny Fent presented at the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association Annual Meeting in Columbus, Ohio. Leaders from many of the largest fire departments in the country were present.
• On June 13, Kenny Fent, Miriam Siegel, and Alex Mayer updated the NFR Subcommittee (a subcommittee of the NIOSH Board of Scientific Counselors) in Washington, DC. The NFR Subcommittee provided feedback on the NFR communications plan, targeted enrollment process, and future questionnaire topics.
• On July 27, Kenny Fent gave an overview about the NFR to fire service leaders from New York who were invited by Senator Gillibrand to the First Responders Summit in Washington, DC.
• From August 15-18, Alex Mayer, and Rob Saunders attended the Fire-Rescue International Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. Alex presented on the NFR, along with representatives from the International Association of Fire Chiefs . The NFR also had an exhibit booth where more information about the NFR was handed out to hundreds of attendees.
• From August 21-25, Kenny Fent, Miriam Siegel, and Alex Mayer attended the IAFF’s Redmond Health and Safety Symposium/Barbera EMS Conference. Kenny Fent presented on the NFR, Alex Mayer presented on firefighting exposure reduction practices, and all team members promoted enrollment at an exhibit booth.

• The NFR officially launched on April 13^th.
• Enrollments in the NFR quickly rose after the launch. By the end of April over 1,000 firefighters had enrolled.
• Since that time, an average of approximately 500 people per week have been accessing the web portal (https://nfr.cdc.gov)
• At the end of August over 7,600 firefighters have signed up for the NFR.
• This is a great start! Our goal is to enroll 200,000 firefighters over the next several years.

• The Fire Chief’s Toolkit assists fire service leaders in helping their firefighters join the NFR. The toolkit provides 4 simple steps for encouraging and assisting firefighters with enrollment.
• The Enrollment Tip Sheet was updated with specific tips for wildland firefighters. Thank you to the U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Forest Service for their help. This tip sheet can be accessed directly from the NFR web portal.

• Begin reaching out to specific fire departments as part of our targeted enrollment and other efforts to assist firefighters with the enrollment process.
• Continue to make updates to the NFR web portal to ease the enrollment process.