New Vice President of Education, Research and Outreach Russ Osgood
We are excited to announce the appointment of our New Hampshire State Director, Russ Osgood as the new Vice President of Education, Research and Outreach.
Before we introduce you to Russ, we’d like to send a huge thank you to Keith Tyson, our former VP of Education, Research and Outreach for his years of service. Keith has been instrumental in growing our organization and helping our educational programs remain successful. Join us in thanking him for his continued service as he remains the Florida State Director and a valuable member of our team!
Now back to Russ, who has been with FCSN since 2012 when he assumed the role of state director for New Hampshire. In 2013 Russ was appointed to the FCSN Education Committee and was instrumental in developing FCSN’s “Taking Action Against Cancer” program that is taught to firefighters across the nation.
Russ joined FCSN after experiencing the loss of two firefighters from his department to occupational cancer. He stated that, “I started a program in New Hampshire where firefighters that entered the fire service were required to have a cancer prevention program. This was something that I tackled after learning more about why my sister Sarah Fox and brother Jeff Bokum who both passed at aged 39 from occupational cancer. These two had a great impact on our department and launched us into the spotlight as a leader in cancer in the fire service in New Hampshire and New England”. While attending the 2012 IAFF convention, Russ met Jim Burneka former President of FCSN and former FCSN Vice President of Education, Keith Tyson who told him about the organization. Russ was hooked after speaking to them immediately joined the FCSN team.
As the Vice President of Education, Research and Outreach Russ’s responsibilities will include; serving as a member of the board of directors, development and annual updating of our educational programs that educate firefighters across the nation on the dangers of carcinogens and how to reduce their exposure to them. He will also be serving on state, regional and national committees studying firefighters and cancer and developing and publishing statistical and other relevant reports related to cancer research and other epidemiological data.
Russ recently retired from the City of Portsmouth, NH after 26 years and is currently the Fire Chief in Ogunquit Maine, a small community on the coast of Maine near his home town of Cape Neddick, Maine. Russ is married to his wife Lynn and has a son who is nineteen and a daughter that is twenty-four and is getting married this August. We are incredibly proud and grateful to have Russ serve as our new Vice President of Education, Research and Outreach.
