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

Spring 2023

A Message from the National Firefighter Registry Team Lead

Greetings from NIOSH,

I am excited to announce the National Firefighter Registry (NFR) enrollment portal is now live! Over the past several months, we have been enrolling firefighters at select departments across the country in a soft launch. The soft launch allowed us to test the enrollment portal and make refinements. Thank you to all the departments and firefighters that participated in the soft launch.

We are now ready to invite all U.S. firefighters to enroll in the NFR. We will begin promoting the nationwide launch of the NFR enrollment portal next week, starting April 17. Please join us in spreading the word at that time. We have new communication materials you can share, and the NFR Promotion Kit outlines five steps you can take to help share the NFR with firefighters across the nation. On Wednesday, May 10 at 1:00 PM (ET), we will host a call with interested partners to discuss how to promote the NFR. If you’d like to attend, please register here.

We will make our first in-person announcement about launching NFR enrollment nationwide at FDIC International’s Opening Ceremony on April 27. If you are attending the conference, please join us at the Opening Ceremony or our exhibit booth (#543). At the exhibit booth, our team members will be available to discuss enrollment, share materials, and answer questions.

Please read below to learn more about our recent activities and next steps as we launch the NFR enrollment portal nationwide. We’re excited firefighters can now join the NFR, and we appreciate your support in helping us meet our recruitment goals.

Kind regards,

Kenny Fent, PhD, CIH
CDR, U.S. Public Health Service
Research Industrial Hygienist/Team Lead
National Firefighter Registry Program
CDC NIOSH

NFR Soft Launch Enrollments

A person holding a plaque and shaking another person's hand

Kenny Fent presenting Executive Officer Bruce Hawk with a plaque thanking the Loveland-Symmes Fire Department for their help in testing the NFR web portal

On January 16–20, the NFR team attended the Fire Department Safety Officers Association Health & Safety Conference and “Nerdstock” in St. Pete’s Beach, Florida. While there, we enrolled the first participants in the NFR as part of the soft launch of the registry.
Between January and April, the NFR team traveled to the following locations to enroll additional participants:
- January 23–25: Independence Fire District, Kentucky
- January 26–27: Loveland-Symmes Fire Department, Ohio
- February 8–10: Tucson Fire Department, Arizona
- February 13–15: Pike Township Fire Department, Indiana
- March 13–15: Fairfax County Fire and Rescue, Virginia
- April 3–April 6: Howard County Fire and Rescue, Maryland and
  Hanover Park Fire Department, Illinois

Conferences and Presentations

On November 9–14, 2022, Andrea Wilkinson and Rick Markley attended the Symposium in the Sun in Clearwater, Florida, presented by the Volunteer and Combination Officers Section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. The NFR exhibit booth received a large amount of traffic. The team connected with many external collaborators, sharing the project’s current status and anticipated timeline.
On February 22, Kenny Fent presented on the NFR at the Tri-State FACE Health and Wellness Symposium in West Chester, Ohio.
On February 23, Alex Mayer and Miriam Siegel traveled to Miami, Florida to attend and present at the International Firefighter Cancer Symposium.
On February 28, Kenny Fent presented on the NFR at the Center for Public Safety Excellence Conference in Orlando, Florida.
On March 20, Andrea Wilkinson presented to firefighters on NIOSH exposure work and the NFR at the What’s Killing Us Conference in Loveland, Ohio.
On March 20, Kenny Fent presented on firefighters’ exposures to carcinogens at the Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee.

New Communication Materials

We recently released a variety of communication materials to help spread the word about the NFR:

The NFR Promotion Kit contains five steps fire service leaders and organizations can take to share the NFR with firefighters across the nation. The kit includes talking points, newsletter text, social media messages, and more.
Eight new videos featuring testimonials from different members of the fire service describing why they think the NFR is important are available.
Nine new NFR posters are available to download. Three posters feature the artwork of fire service cartoonist, Paul Combs.
Two new fact sheets to help aid NFR enrollment are available. An enrollment tips fact sheet provides an overview of the four steps for enrolling in the NFR and helpful enrollment tips. The Roll Call Announcement fact sheet provides information for fire chiefs to share about the NFR.
Social media and website graphics are available to download.

What’s Next for the NFR?

Attend FDIC International
Host a partner promotion call on May 10 (register here)
Present to the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) National Advisory Committee on May 24