NEW YORK — Occupational cancer is now the leading cause of death among fire fighters, surpassing heart disease. The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and the Firefighter Cancer Support Network (FCSN) are committed to reversing this trend to save more fire fighter lives.

During Fire Fighter Cancer Awareness Month (iaff.org/cancer-awareness-month), the IAFF and FCSN will partner to deliver targeted education and best practices and resources to reduce the impact of cancer on fire fighters.

The month-long campaign includes safety stand downs, factsheets, podcasts, survivor stories, and training briefs. These materials focus on the scope of the cancer problem, prevention, best practices, survivorship, leadership tactics to encourage prevention, and skills to help departments reduce their risk of occupational cancer.

Topics are reinforced through online resources, such as daily training information and infographics that promote the program on social media and podcasts addressing important cancer topics and the latest research.

“Cancer is the leading cause of death among fire fighters, accounting for more than 74 percent of the line-of-duty deaths added to the IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial Wall of Honor each year,” says IAFF General President Edward Kelly. “We must educate ourselves and do everything we can to extinguish cancer from the fire service. Together, the IAFF and FCSN are dedicated to doing whatever it takes to keep fire fighters healthy on and off the job.”

“As we continue to learn more about the link between firefighting and cancer, it is more important than ever that we take steps to minimize the risk fire fighters face every single day,” says FCSN CEO Bryan Frieders. “The science around fire fighter exposures is constantly changing, but with continued research we learn more and more and are better equipped to introduce prevention practices to reduce our risk of developing occupational cancer.”

Firefighter Cancer Support Network (FCSN) provides critical assistance for career or volunteer, active or retired firefighters, emergency medical service providers, and their immediate family members who have been diagnosed with cancer. They deliver valuable post-diagnosis resources followed by unique badge to badge, one-on-one mentorship from one of their 220 fire-service mentors who have first-hand knowledge about battling cancer.

They share their survivor’s journey about their types of cancer, their own experiences with testing and treatments, and offer valuable insight into the recovery process. Visit firefightercancersupport.org for more information.

The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is the driving force behind nearly every advance in the fire and emergency services in the 21st century. With headquarters in Washington, D.C. and Ottawa, Ontario, the IAFF represents more than 332,000 full-time professional fire fighters and paramedics in more than 3,500 affiliates.

IAFF members protect more than 85 percent of the population in communities throughout the United States and Canada. The IAFF is also one of the most active lobbying organizations in Washington, DC. The IAFF Political Action Committee, FIREPAC, is among the top one-half of one percent of all federally registered PACs in the country. For more information, visit iaff.org.

-Information provided by IAFF