FAQ Fact Sheet

STAND TOGETHER
JOIN THE NATIONAL
FIREFIGHTER REGISTRY

Answer the call. Join your brothers and sisters
in a new effort to understand and reduce cancer.
What is NIOSH?
The National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH) is the part of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
responsible for conducting research and making
recommendations to reduce workplace illness
and injury. NIOSH has a long history of working
with the fire service and is committed to firefighter
health and safety through investigating line of duty
deaths, job hazards, cancer and other illnesses.

WHO CAN REGISTER FOR THE NFR?
All U.S. firefighters, with or without
cancer, no matter their length
of service. This includes:
• Active and retired firefighters
• Career, paid-on-call, and
volunteer firefighters
• Structural firefighters

What is the National Firefighter
Registry (NFR)?

• Wildland firefighters

The NFR is the largest existing effort undertaken
to understand and reduce cancer among U.S.
firefighters. In 2018, Congress passed the Firefighter
Cancer Registry Act. This Act directed NIOSH to
develop a voluntary registry of firefighters to better
understand the link between firefighting and cancer.

• Fire investigators

• Instructors
• Other fire service members
Having all types of firefighters join
the NFR is vital to examining the
relationship between firefighting and
cancer. Participation is voluntary.

Why was the NFR created?
Studies have shown that firefighters may have a
greater risk for some types of cancer due to their
exposure to smoke and hazardous chemicals
on the fireground. Many of these studies did not
include volunteer firefighters or enough women or
firefighters from some racial and ethnic groups to
make strong conclusions about their cancer risk. The
NFR will include members of these groups to better
understand the connection between firefighting
activities and cancer among all U.S. firefighters.

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How do I join?
Registration will take place through a secure website
and will take about 30 minutes. When joining, you
will provide information about yourself – name,
date of birth, and some basic information about
your work exposures, health, and lifestyle.

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NATIONAL FIREFIGHTER REGISTRY
Why should I join?

What if I don’t have cancer, can I still join?

The more we know about cancer, the more we can
do to prevent it. By joining the NFR, you can:

Yes. All firefighters, with or without cancer, are
encouraged to join the NFR, and their participation is
critical for understanding firefighters’ risk of cancer.

• Help protect the next generation
of firefighters from cancer
• Pave the way for new safety measures to protect
your brothers and sisters in the fire service
• Help protect firefighter families and their
communities from experiencing the
impact of cancer on their loved ones
• Improve our understanding of cancer
risk among female firefighters, volunteer
firefighters, and firefighters who are Black
or African American, Hispanic or Latino,
Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native,
or from other racial and ethnic groups that
have been underrepresented in research

How does the NFR work?
Every time someone is diagnosed with cancer,
details about their cancer are reported to
the cancer registry in their state, but detailed
information about their work is not captured.
By providing information about themselves and
their work, NFR participants will allow NIOSH
researchers to match NFR information with cancer
diagnosis information to better understand
cancer and its risk factors in the fire service.

Do NFR participants need to contact
NIOSH if they are diagnosed with cancer?
No. NIOSH will be able to track information related
to cancer by linking information on individual
firefighters enrolled in the NFR with state cancer
registries. Firefighters should consult with their
doctor if they have any concerns about their health.

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What information do I need to provide
and how will it be protected?
When you sign up for the NFR, you will be asked
for your name and other identifying information
(e.g., date of birth), as well as details about your
work as a firefighter. Privacy and data security
are top priorities for the NFR. Firefighters join
the NFR through a secure website using multifactor authentication. Firefighter data is stored
securely with multiple layers of encryption. Your
identifiable information will be kept confidential
and only accessible to NIOSH researchers.

What happens after I join?
Because the NFR is a long-term project, NIOSH
researchers may reach out to you about once
a year with voluntary, but important follow-up
questionnaires. Your continued participation
is key to protecting firefighter health.

When can I join?
The NFR will open to all U.S. firefighters later this year.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE
NFR QUARTERLY
NEWSLETTER FOR THE
LATEST NFR UPDATES.

LEARN MORE AT CDC.GOV/NFR

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