Hutchinson Fire Department achieves Gold Helmet status for cancer registry participation

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Fire Department has earned Gold Helmet Department recognition from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for its participation in the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer.

To qualify for Gold Helmet status, fire departments must have at least 50% of their active firefighters or more than 300 active firefighters enrolled in the registry.

The National Firefighter Registry for Cancer is the largest effort undertaken to understand and reduce cancer among U.S. firefighters, which remains a leading cause of line-of-duty deaths in the profession.

Departments seeking Gold Helmet recognition must email NFRegistry@cdc.gov with the total number of active firefighters in their department. Participants must select their current department in the work history section of the registry questionnaire to allow NIOSH to accurately count enrolled firefighters.

NIOSH reviews the registry database and sends confirmation emails to qualifying departments. The recognition includes a certificate, website badge and social media posts for departments to share.

Gold Helmet Departments can promote their achievement through email, social media and other channels using #NFRGoldHelmet.

NIOSH encourages departments to challenge themselves to enroll at least half of their active firefighters in the registry to support research aimed at reducing cancer risks among firefighters.

More information about the Gold Helmet program is available on the NIOSH website.