Firefighter Health and Wellness

CFSI supports initiatives to promote the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of fire and emergency services personnel.

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Firefighter Occupational Cancer

CFSI advocates for a variety of initiatives to help address cancer in the fire service. This includes support for cancer presumptions, funding for cancer research, improved cancer screening technologies and access to such technologies, funding for those affected by 9/11 cancers and health conditions, and much more.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that the firefighting occupation is a Group 1 carcinogenic profession.

Firefighting has also been linked to a variety of different cancers, including lung cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, and many more.

Much work is being done to better understand and address cancer in the fire service, including the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Firefighter Registry, the Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study (FFCCS), the Center for Fire, Rescue, and EMS Health Research, the Fire Service Occupational Cancer Alliance, etc.

NFR

National Firefighter Registry

CFSI worked hard with our partner organizations to pass the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act (P.L. 115-194), which established the National Firefighter Registry (NFR) at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

The aim of the NFR is to compile a comprehensive, national data source to help to better understand the link between firefighting and cancer. All U.S. firefighters regardless of length of service will be able to register for the NFR.

Helpful Links:

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Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program

CFSI has long supported the PSOB program, which provides death and educational benefits to survivors of fallen fire and emergency services personnel, as well as disability benefits to personnel catastrophically injured in the line of duty.

CFSI has been instrumental in providing funding for this program, as well as working with partner organizations and legislators to ensure that the program criteria and eligibility requirements are updated as appropriate. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the requirements for PSOB were updated to include a presumption that if a public safety officer died from COVID-19, they more likely than not contracted it on the job.

Helpful Links:

physical health

Physical Health and Wellness

Physical health, including cardiovascular health, is of particular importance in the fire and emergency services. CFSI advocates for policies and programs to support physical health in the fire and emergency services, including funding for AFG and SAFER that can be used to establish wellness programs at departments.

Health

Behavioral Health

CFSI advocates for policies and programs that support the behavioral health of fire and EMS personnel. This includes advocating for funding for the AFG and SAFER grant programs, which can help departments to set up or access behavioral health resources including peer-to-peer counseling programs, treatment programs, and much more.

CFSI also supports legislation such as the HERO Act that will help to fund training for peer counseling, establish behavioral health and wellness programs, increase data collection regarding public safety officer suicides, and more.

911

9/11

CFSI worked to create the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), which provides compensation to individuals or their survivors who were present at the WTC or in the exposure zone, at the Pentagon, or in the Shanksville, PA crash site. The VCF was created by the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-347.) and made permanent by the Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (P.L. 116-34).

CFSI has also advocated in support of the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program, which is administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The program provides no-cost medical monitoring and treatment for eligible health conditions for those who were directly affected by the attacks on 9/11. Most recently, CFSI supported additional funding for the program without which the program would have had to make cuts to services and ultimately halt enrollments.

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Current Legislation

National Firefighter Registry Reauthorization

Summary: The legislation would reauthorize the National Firefighter Registry through FY2028. 

Background:

  • Due to the nature of their jobs, which exposes them to toxic chemicals, stress, and other extreme conditions, firefighters in the United States are at risk for a number of diseases, including various cancers.
  • The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has named occupational exposure from firefighting as a Group 1 carcinogen.
  • During the 115th Congress, both the House and Senate unanimously approved the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act (P.L. 115-194).
  • This bipartisan legislation created a specialized national registry to provide researchers and epidemiologists with the tools and resources needed to improve research collection activities related to the monitoring of cancer incidence among firefighters.

Status: H.R.3821 has passed the House. A companion bill (S.2119) has been introduced in the Senate.

Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act

Summary: The legislation would update the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program to include presumptive benefits for firefighter occupational cancer.

Background:

  • Due to the nature of their jobs, which exposes them to toxic chemicals, stress, and other extreme conditions, firefighters in the United States are at risk for a number of diseases, including various cancers.
    • In fact, in 2015 a study was released by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which found that fire fighters are 9% more likely to develop cancer and 14% more likely to die from cancer than the general population.
  • The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has named occupational exposure from firefighting as a Group 1 carcinogen.
  • The Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program, run by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, provides death and education benefits to survivors of fallen public safety officers.

Status: The bill has been introduced in the House and the Senate (H.R.1719/S.930).

Helping Emergency Responders Overcome (HERO) Act

Summary: The legislation provides funding for peer counseling programs for public safety officers, and collects data on post-traumatic stress among public safety officers to assist in developing best practices and improve measures to recognize, prevent, and treat mental health issues among public safety officers.

Background:

  • On the job, fire and EMS personnel are frequently exposed to scenes including traumatic injury and loss of life.
  • The psychological impacts of such exposure can have severe negative effects on fire and EMS personnel.
  • There is a great need for more robust mental health awareness, treatment, and support in the fire and emergency services.

Status: The bill has been reintroduced in the House and the Senate (H.R.3671/S.1925)

Past Legislation

Federal Firefighters Fairness Act

Summary: The legislation would create a rebuttable presumption that federal firefighters who become disabled by heart disease, lung disease, and certain cancers contracted such illnesses on the job.

Background:

  • Due to the nature of their jobs – including exposure to toxic chemicals, stress, and other extreme conditions in the line of duty – firefighters in the United States are at risk for a number of diseases, such as heart disease, lung disease, and various cancers.
  • Forty-nine states have already recognized that these illnesses are occupational hazards of firefighting and have enacted laws providing presumptive disability benefits to firefighters employed by state and local governments who contract such illnesses.
  • It is important that all of our nation’s firefighters have the assurance that they can receive the benefits they need and deserve when their health is on the line.

Status: The legislation became law in the 117th Congress (P.L.117-263).

Protecting America’s First Responders Act

Summary: The bill expands the Public Safety Officer Benefits (PSOB) program and makes certain changes to allow the program to function in an improved manner.

Background:

  • Among the provisions, the bill specifies that public safety officers – including firefighters – who have suffered catastrophic injuries may continue to be employed as long as the employment meets certain criteria, such as minimal compensation, or work done for therapeutic purposes.
  • The bill retroactively extends the updated disability provision to personnel who responded to the 9/11 attacks.
  • The bill also expands eligibility to include public safety officers who were not previously covered, like fire-police; ties certain benefit amounts to when the ruling is made, not when the claim was filed; makes adjustments to the education benefit for dependents; and doubles the interim death payment from $3,000 to $6,000 and links it to the Consumer Price Index for adjustments.
  • In addition, the bill includes an extension of COVID-19 presumption, whereby a public safety officer who dies or is injured after contracting COVID-19 (within certain limits) is considered to have contracted the illness on the job and therefore is eligible for PSOB benefits.

More information on the PSOB program can be found on the Bureau of Justice Assistance website.

Status: The legislation became law in the 117th Congress (P.L.117-61).

Safeguarding America’s First Responders Act

Summary: The bill expands the Public Safety Officer Benefits (PSOB) program and makes certain changes to allow the program pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background:

  • The bill extends death and disability benefits under the PSOB program to public safety officers and survivors of public safety officers who die or become injured as a result of COVID-19 .
  • The bill creates a general presumption that a public safety officer who dies from COVID-19 or related complications sustained a personal injury in the line of duty.
  • The bill also creates a general presumption that COVID-19 or related complications suffered by a public safety officer constitutes a personal injury sustained in the line of duty.

Status: The legislation became law in the 116th Congress (P.L.116-157).

Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund

Summary: The bill extends the Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act until October 2090, a permanent authorization.

Background:

  • The bill permanently extends the 9/11 VCF, which provides compensation to eligible individuals and survivors who were directly affected by 9/11.
  • The bill also makes several technical changes to the program, including requiring VCF policies and procedures to be reassessed every 5 years, periodically adjusting the limit on economic loss compensation for inflation, and more.

Status: The legislation became law in the 116th Congress (P.L. 116-34).

Firefighter Cancer Registry Act

Summary: The bill requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop and maintain a voluntary registry of firefighters in order to collect history and occupational information that can be used to determine the incidence of cancer among firefighters.

Background:

  • Studies have indicated a strong link between firefighting and an increased risk of several major cancers.
  • Certain studies examining cancer risks among firefighters have been limited by the availability of important data and relatively small sample sizes that have an underrepresentation of women, minorities, and volunteer firefighters.
  • As a result, public health researchers are unable to fully examine and understand the broader epidemiological cancer trends among firefighters.
  • The National Firefighter Registry is an important resource to better understand the link between firefighting and cancer, potentially leading to better prevention and safety protocols. 

Status: The legislation became law in the 115th Congress (P.L. 115-194).

James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act

Summary: The bill creates the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF).

Background:

  • The VCF provides compensation to eligible individuals and survivors who were directly affected by 9/11.

Status: The legislation became law in the 111th Congress (P.L. 111-347).