2019 State of the Science Firefighter Cancer Symposium

Details

• Personal Author:
  Caban-Martinez, Alberto J.
• Description:
  The Inaugural 2019 State of the Science Firefighter Cancer Symposium was held on Monday, June 10, 2019 and Tuesday, June 11, 2019 from 7:00 AM to 5:45 PM each day at the Donna E. Shalala Complex Center located in the University of Miami Coral Gables campus, Miami Florida. The primary goal of 2019 State of the Science Firefighter Cancer Symposium was to support foster conversation and knowledge sharing on the reduction of cancer risk in the U.S. fire service by addressing critical barriers in scientific knowledge including the development of uniform data collection instruments, exposure assessment, better understanding of cancer mechanisms, effective cancer screening and inclusion of potentially vulnerable groups such as women and racial/ethnic minority firefighters. During the Inaugural 2019 State of the Science Firefighter Cancer Symposium, 307 attendees were invited to participate in breakout discussion sessions following the plenary and panel speakers each day. Among all registered attendees, 46.9% were from the Fire Service, 24.4% were from Academia, 12.1% from Industry and 16.6% self-identified as Other (i.e., Healthcare entity, federal/state government, etc.). Attendees were invited to participate in breakout discussion sessions following the plenary and panel speakers each day. Attendees were able to choose their discussion group based on topic. All groups were facilitated by experts in the field specific to the topic of interest. The scientific presentations guided the topics of discussion including: Epidemiology of Cancer in Firefighters, Biomedical Studies, Exposure Studies, Cancer Screening and Prevention, Survivorship, Firefighter Subgroups, Modifiable Risk Factors and Education and Training. All breakout sessions were audio recorded and then transcribed word for word. Data were analyzed by a process guided by the principles of thematic analysis. The main theme that emerged from all group discussions was "Communication is essential for progress." Although, each group's topics were different, the key theme that emerged was the need to increase communication. It was suggested that communication could be improved between the leaders in academia and the fire service as well as members of the fire service and their leadership. In addition to these organizational lines of communication, it was reported that communication at an individual level between co-workers and family members would help improve the outcomes in firefighter cancer. We see this theme throughout the breakout sessions. Attendees consistently report that significant and ground-breaking work is being done in the scientific community, however it usually takes a significant amount of time to reach the fire service. Following the inaugural 2019 firefighter cancer symposium, planning began for the 2020 national firefighter cancer symposium and was held February 27-29, 2020 in Miami, Florida. This NIOSH R13 catalyzed the need for further national research symposium to update the fire service on the latest science on cancer prevention for the firefighter workforce. Summary discussions of the conference were circulated by various firefighter professional organizations, government entities, insurance companies, and academic institutions. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communication Epidemiology Family Firefighters Neoplasms Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Cancer Communication Research Exposure Assessment Families Fire Fighters Work Organization
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  Florida ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20063417
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, R13-OH-011787, 2020 Sep; :1-9
• Contact Point Address:
  Alberto J. Caban-Martinez, DO, PhD, MPH, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, 1120 N.W. 14th Street, Clinical Research Center, #1025, Miami, Florida 33136
• Email:
  acaban@med.miami.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• Performing Organization:
  University of Miami School of Medicine
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20190501
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20200430
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f87c8368faac5d184faf2bff6ffc4fa5079fdfd58888c1d4c1da06753ac6c3f1e3c1925d2833e308dfb1ecc0e50a48869a5b61241e4ec4f316d4be634b6ec56d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/219075/cdc_219075_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 199.67 KB ]