CDC to Develop Voluntary Registry of U.S. Firefighters

CDC requests input regarding the development and maintenance of a voluntary registry of U.S. firefighters. The national firefighter registry is intended to collect health and occupational information for the purpose of determining cancer incidence. The agency is considering three strategies for recruiting participants into the registry and seeks feedback on ways to maximize participation. CDC’s recruitment strategy options include an open-enrollment approach in which the agency would develop a secure web portal to allow current and former firefighters to provide information, including demographic data and relevant occupational and personal health history. The agency could also recruit participants through professional firefighter organizations or reach out to fire departments directly to request identification of current and former firefighters who worked during a specified time frame.

CDC asks interested stakeholders to provide input and advice about how the agency should define “firefighter” for the purpose of creating the registry; other recruitment or enrollment methods to consider; and which under-represented or understudied groups of firefighters should be included in the registry. The agency also hopes to learn about strategies that can be used to recruit volunteer fire department members and preferred methods for communicating with firefighters to increase awareness of the registry and communicate research findings.

Comments regarding the national firefighter registry will be accepted until May 28, 2019. For further details, including information about submitting feedback, see the Federal Register notice.