National Firefighter Registry Quarterly Newsletter (Winter 2021)
Winter 2021-2022
Welcome from the National Firefighter Registry Team Lead
Greetings from NIOSH,
We are excited to share our latest updates with you. We continue to make progress on the National Firefighter Registry (NFR) here at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). We are welcoming three new members to the NFR Subcommittee and looking forward to the decades of experience and knowledge they bring. We are also making substantial progress on the NFR enrollment system (secure web portal) and will begin testing this system in the coming months.
We are also excited to share some new NFR resources with you in this quarter’s newsletter. Stay connected with the NFR by visiting www.cdc.gov/NFR. Please stay safe and well. We look forward to seeing or hearing from you in the future.
Kind regards,
Kenny Fent, PhD, CIH
Kenny Fent, PhD, CIH
CDR, U.S. Public Health Service
Research Industrial Hygienist/Team Lead
National Firefighter Registry Program
CDC NIOSH
Welcome New NFR Subcommittee Members!
We are pleased to announce that Tom Harbour, Victor Stagnaro, and Eric Durban are joining the NFR Subcommittee. The NFR Subcommittee provides independent advice and guidance to the NFR and includes a range of experts, such as public health practitioners, epidemiologists, clinicians with cancer expertise, career firefighters, state health officials, and officials from state departments of homeland security. The NFR Subcommittee previously provided valuable input on the NFR protocol—the project road map—which outlines all aspects of the NFR and how it will be conducted, as well as the design and features of the web portal under development.
Tom Harbour is a wildland fire and aviation expert with over 50 years’ experience, including serving as the National Fire and Aviation Management Director of the U.S. Forest Service. Victor Stagnaro served 25 years with the Prince George’s County Fire/Emergency Medical Services Department where he retired as Chief of Operations. He is currently the Managing Director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Eric Durbin is the Director of the Kentucky Cancer Registry and Assistant Professor in the Division of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. He has over 30 years of experience in population-based cancer surveillance and informatics support for basic, clinical, and translational cancer research. We look forward to the knowledge and expertise these three will bring to the Subcommittee from their many decades of experience.
We would also like to sincerely thank Chuck Bushey, Dennis Deapen, and Richard Miller, who are stepping down from the NFR Subcommittee, for their valuable contributions. The NFR project is stronger thanks to their experience and knowledge and we wish them the best in all future endeavors.
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Welcome
National Firefighter Registry Subcommittee Meeting
Recent Events
Upcoming Events and Next Steps
Please visit the National Firefighter Registry Subcommittee (NFRS) website.
New Podcast
FireDawg Podcast Highlights NFR and Fire Service Research
NFR Team Lead Dr. Fent and Dr. Gavin Horn of Underwriters Laboratories Fire Safety Research Institute participated in an episode of the FireDawg podcast in January. Drs. Fent and Horn discussed their fire service research over the years and highlighted why the NFR is so important. You can find the episode on the FireDawg webpage, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Recent Events
On February 25, Dr. Kenny Fent gave an update on the NFR at the National Firefighter Cancer Symposium (NFCS). The 2022 NFCS was hosted by the Firefighter Cancer Initiative at the University of Miami. The event focused on the most current research and cancer prevention practices in the fire service.
On March 7, Dr. Fent also gave a presentation to the Loveland-Symmes Fire Department in Ohio about the NFR and how their firefighters can help pilot test the NFR enrollment system in the coming months. Loveland-Symmes Firefighters are expected to be the first testers of the web portal.
Upcoming Events and Next Steps
Upcoming events
Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC)
The NFR will have an exhibit booth at FDIC in Indianapolis, April 27-30. If you will be attending FDIC this year, please stop by our booth in the expo hall.
Next Steps for the NFR
- Continue developing and testing the NFR web portal for participant registration
- Continue conversations with firefighters, fire departments, state agencies, and other partners about the best way to share information on the NFR and obtain their support
- Continue planning for an online symposium that will provide an opportunity to share the most current NFR information with partners
- Launch the NFR enrollment system later in 2022 and begin registering firefighters throughout the country