National Firefighter Registry

Attachment C

Form Approved

OMB No. 0920-0572

Expiration Date 8/31/2021

NIOSH Focus Group Moderator Guide

National Firefighter Registry

Welcome.

Thank you for coming.

To make this work I am asking for a free-flowing discussion. If you are a talker try to refrain on occasion and if you are shy, try to push yourself to speak up. I want to remind everyone that this focus group will be audio recorded in order to accurately capture what is said. All responses will be kept in the strictest of confidence and will be available only to the research team. No one will be able to identify you when the results are reported and your name will not appear anywhere in the written form, unless you give permission in advance. Please do not share other participant identities or responses from the focus group outside this gathering so that we might maintain the anonymity of the participants.

Fill Out Forms (name is optional)

There are no right and wrong answer here tonight/today --- only your opinions and your opinions are important to us.

So, let’s get started.

16c. Have you heard about the National Firefighter Registry?

17c. What can you tell me about firefighters and cancer?

The public reporting burden of this collection of information is estimated to average 2 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to - CDC/ATSDR Reports Clearance Officer; 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS D-74, Atlanta, Georgia 30333 ATTN: PRA (0920-0572).

Read Message

Fighting fires is a dangerous profession, and the danger goes beyond the hazards of running into a burning building.

Numerous studies show that exposure to smoke and other chemical products released from burning materials can increase the risk of diseases and mortality, including cancer, heart disease and cardiovascular disease.

While the correlation is clear, more information about these health risks is needed—especially with regard to firefighters.

To better understand the link between on-the-job exposure to toxins and cancer, Congress directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create the National Firefighter Registry.

The goal of the NFR is to become the world’s largest database of health and occupational information for firefighters. This database could be used to track and analyze the incidence of cancer, and to search for common links to help the public safety community, researchers, scientists and medical professionals find better ways to protect those who protect our communities.

Participation in the NFR is voluntary. But all firefighters—career and volunteer, active and retired, those who have had or currently have cancer and those who have never received the diagnosis—are encouraged to take part.

By providing vital information about their own health and work experiences, firefighters will play a critical role in helping to understand more about the health risks the profession faces.

We urge you to sign-up for the National Firefighter Registry today.

1d. What is the main idea that this message is trying to get across, in your own words?

2d. How well do you think the main ideas come across?

3d. Is it trying to get people to do something?
• What action would the message prompt you to take?

4d. Were there any words that were unusual or unfamiliar?

5d. What other words can be used in their place? What would you say is the main idea or ideas they are trying to convey here?

6d. Is there anything confusing, unclear, or hard to understand?

7d. How would you sum up in just a few words your first impression of this message? Do you like it? Not like it? What makes you say that?

8d. What feelings do you have in reaction to this message? Anything positive? Anything negative?

9d. Was your reaction to this positive or negative?

What positive images do you associate with “National Firefighter Registry”?

What negative images do you associate with “National Firefighter Registry”?

10d. Is this an appealing message?
• What makes the message appealing or unappealing?

11d. How does it make you feel?

12d. Was this a new idea or something that you’ve heard before?

13d. Do you strongly agree with any part of this message? If so, what?

14d. Do you strongly disagree with anything in this message? If so, what?

15d. Is this message believable or not? Why or why not?

26d. Do you see yourself doing this...or something like it? Why/why not?

27d. Who do you believe would benefit most from people registering for the NFR?

30d. If you saw or heard this message, would it get your attention? Why or why not?

33d. How could this message be improved?

69d. Where do you get your information about cancer and firefighters? • Probe for sources such as media, family, friends, church.

74d. When it comes to FF cancer and the NFR, are there any organizations that you would really trust as a reliable source of information?

75d. What makes them a trusted source of FF cancer and the NFR information?

81d. What are some places where you might notice messages like these?

92d. Who would have the ability to influence you?
• Would it be a physician, celebrity, religious or spiritual leader, or someone like you?

101d. Have you ever heard of an organization called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC?

103d. What if the CDC and NIOSH said something like this? Would that change the way you look at these statements? Would it make any of them more or less believable? More or less appealing? Motivating?

17f. Overall on a scale from 1 to 10 where 1 is not at all interested and 10 is extremely interested, how interested are you in signing-up for the National Firefighter Registry?