Awareness & Prevention
Overcoming Starts with Education
FCSN has delivered our extensive occupational cancer awareness and prevention training to thousands of firefighters across America.
The International Association of Fire Fighters online cancer awareness and prevention course, created in cooperation with FCSN, launched in May 2016.
FCSN instructors deliver our award-winning cancer-prevention training every day. Our popular train-the-trainer program gives instructors the cancer-fighting tools and curriculum they can take back to their departments. We now have FCSN-trained instructors in nearly every state, across Canada, and all the way to Ireland and Australia. FCSN also provides training at some of the largest fire-service events, including the Fire Department Instructors Conference, at the National Fire Academy, and at a number of state fire training academies.
Making an Impact
We also provide training for fire departments large and small. In 2015, FCSN collaborated with Boston Fire Commissioner Joseph Finn and leaders of IAFF Local 718 to bring our cancer-prevention training to Boston. Cancer caused 67 percent of the Boston Fire Department’s line-of-duty deaths between 2002-2014.
“Boston firefighters develop cancer at a rate two-and-a-half times higher than other Boston residents,” Finn said. “We have recognized cancer’s effect on our firefighters, and FCSN’s department-wide prevention training is an important part of our ongoing, comprehensive safety, health, and wellness program.”
IAFF Local 718 President Richard Paris agreed. “Since 1990, the Boston Fire Department has lost 190 members to cancer,” Paris said. “It’s a staggering number. We know that cancer is killing our members, and we’re making a collaborative effort to save the lives of Boston firefighters. FCSN’s training focuses on preventive measures the department and firefighters can take to reduce exposure to carcinogens and help avoid contracting this deadly disease.”
FCSN President Bryan Frieders, a deputy chief with the Pasadena (CA) Fire Department, praised Boston’s collaborative, aggressive approach to reducing firefighters’ occupational cancer risk. “Addressing the occupational cancer epidemic requires a cultural change for the fire service,” Frieders said. “Joe Finn and Richie Paris are leading from the front. Their work together with FCSN illustrates how effective labor-management relationships can be to enhance the safety and well-being of firefighters.”
Join the Movement
The Boston training was part of an FCSN pilot program initially funded by a FEMA Fire Prevention and Safety grant. FCSN’s new train-the-trainer program, which launched in 2016, helps FCSN ensure consistent, accurate education delivered with highly personal interaction by fellow firefighters and other qualified instructors. Please direct inquiries about FCSN’s firefighter cancer prevention training and new train-the-trainer program to Russ Osgood at Russ Osgood.
