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National Firefighter Registry (NFR) for Cancer Quarterly Newsletter (Summer 2024)
Summer 2024
Welcome from the Manager of the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer
I hope everyone is having a great summer! This summer has been very busy for the NFR for Cancer. Our team continues to grow. Read below to learn about two of our newest NFR team members.
With our expanding team, we are also building our network of partners to help connect with firefighters all over country. We have secured new letters of support from the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI), First Responder Center for Excellence (FRCE), and the Oncology Nursing Society.
We are also seeking to strengthen existing partnerships. For example, we held meetings with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) to brainstorm creative ways of reaching their membership and providing key information about the NFR and firefighter health and wellness. If your organization wants to be involved in these efforts, please email us at NFRegistry@cdc.gov.
We also continued to promote the Gold Helmet Department recognition throughout the summer. Already, 10 fire departments from across the United States have achieved the Gold Helmet distinction (read below), and many more have requested additional information. If you are a firefighter or fire officer, please encourage your department to pursue this important distinction. The Gold Helmet recognition can have an exponential impact by garnering the attention of other area fire departments. We continue to adapt and develop new ideas to encourage enrollment because the more firefighters we enroll, the more we can learn about the cancer risk in the fire service.
Kind regards,
Kenny Fent, PhD, CIH
CDR, U.S. Public Health Service
Research Industrial Hygienist/Team Lead
National Firefighter Registry Program
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
The NFR is recognizing any U.S. fire department that enrolls at least 50% or more than 300 firefighters in the NFR as a Gold Helmet Department.
The list of Gold Helmet Departments is growing! Thank you to the following departments for their support of the NFR for Cancer and congratulations on achieving Gold Helmet status:
- Central Jackson County Fire Protection District, Missouri
- Bellbrook Fire Department, Ohio
- Ogunquit Fire Department, Maine
- Rio Rico Medical Fire District, Arizona
- Westminster Fire Department, Colorado
- Batesville Fire and Rescue, Indiana
- Lake Ozark Fire Protection District, Missouri
- Loveland-Symmes Fire Department, Ohio
- Hanover Park Fire Department, Illinois
- Independence Fire District, Kentucky
The NFR would like to express our gratitude to the IAFF for supporting our mission to better understand the link between firefighting and cancer. The NFR team met with IAFF leadership in June to discuss collaborating on the promotion of the NFR and encouraging the support of IAFF members to join the NFR.
The IAFF is committed to advancing the rights, safety, and future of fire fighters, emergency medical workers, and rescue workers across the United States and Canada. We are honored by their continued support!
Danielle Mancillas, DBA
Dr. Danielle Mancillas started her career at NIOSH as a Health Communications Specialist in March 2021 with the Mining Program. She joined the NFR in March 2024. With a Doctorate in Business Administration, Danielle’s background is in Marketing and Advertising where she spent 14 years working for the Department of Defense.
Micah Niemeier-Walsh, Ph.D.
Dr. Niemeier-Walsh is an Industrial Hygienist with NIOSH in Cincinnati, Ohio. Micah began their career at NIOSH in 2012 as a health communications intern in the Division of Science Integration. They briefly left the Institute to complete their Ph.D. in Environmental and Industrial Hygiene at the University of Cincinnati and returned to NIOSH in 2020 as an industrial hygienist in the Hazard Evaluation and Technical Assistance Branch. Micah is currently working on a project to characterize firefighters’ potential exposures during electric vehicle fires.
They are very excited to join the NFR team!
June
Kenny Fent and Cat Beaucham presented Biomonitoring of Firefighters: Application During the 2023 Maui Wildfires at the U.S. Public Health Service 2024 Scientific and Training Symposium in Jacksonville, Florida.
Kenny Fent and Cat Beaucham at the U.S. Public Health Service 2024 Scientific and Training Symposium
Miriam Siegel gave a plenary presentation at the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries Conference in Boise, Idaho. She discussed firefighter health and gave an update on the NFR. She also shared plans for future registry linkages with cancer researchers from across North America.
July
Cat Beaucham and Karl Feldmann presented “Occupational Safety and Health Programs at NIOSH” during the Uniformed Services Environmental Health Association session of the National Environmental Health Association conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They provided an overview of the NFR, the NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Program, and the NIOSH Advanced Materials and Manufacturing field studies team.
Judi Eisenberg and Miriam Siegel attended the National Academies of Science National Cancer Policy Forum: Enabling 21st Century Applications for Cancer Surveillance through Enhanced Registries and Beyond in Washington, D.C.
August
Rob Saunders and Pam Graydon were at the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters Convention in Miami, Florida. They had an information booth, and Rob was able to deliver a short NFR presentation to about 100 attendees.
Kevin Dunn gave a virtual presentation on the NFR at the Defense Health Agency Occupational Environmental Medicine Global Meeting and presented at the Department of Defense Fire & Emergency Services Working Group annual meeting in Arlington, Virginia.
Andrea Wilkinson attended the Life Safety Summit put on by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation in St. Louis, Missouri.
Rob Saunders and Kevin Dunn attended the 57th IAFF Convention in Boston, Massachusetts.
Alex Mayer traveled to Des Moines, Iowa as part of a Health Hazard Evaluation and gave a presentation on the NFR to 3 fire departments in the greater Des Moines metropolitan area.
The NFR Program will continue to strengthen our professional partnerships and seek new opportunities to share information about the NFR. We are seeking to build a grassroots coalition of NFR ambassadors to engage with firefighters at a more local or regional level, build awareness, and provide enrollment support.
We are also actively reaching out to fire departments as part of our effort to enroll firefighters. Our goal is to make sure all U.S. firefighters have heard of the NFR, understand its importance, and know how to enroll.
The NFR is live!
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