CTIF Firefighters' Health Commission

The CTIF Health Commission is currently working on a number of articles about how to make a healthier life as a firefighter

Best Practices For Preventing Firefighter Cancer: Report from the CTIF Firefighters Health Commission year meeting in Oslo June 2024

The CTIF Health Commission met in Oslo for a yearly physical meeting during Delegates Assembly. This is the report from that meeting, which also contains a set of Best Practices for Preventing Firefighter Cancer. 

The meeting started at 9am with talking about the cancer prevention in the fire departments. In most countries it is a focus to minimize the exposure of cancer-causing carcinogens from fires. 

The PDF report contains more photos and notes from this interesting meeting and the discussions held there.  Please also find the attached  Best Practices For Preventing Firefighter Cancer. Both of these are downloadable above. 

download and read the entire REPORT

Meetings during 2022:

- July 13, 2022: Online Meeting

- October 20, 2022: Online Meeting

- December 5, 2022:Online meeting

Firefighters operate in a high-stakes environment that requires peak performance and quick decision-making. However, the demanding and unpredictable nature of their work schedules often disrupts their sleep patterns, leading to sleep deprivation and impaired cognitive and physical abilities.

Optimizing sleep for firefighters is crucial to ensure their well-being, performance, and safety. By understanding the challenges they face and implementing evidence-based strategies, firefighters can enhance their sleep quality and duration, leading to improved job performance and overall quality of life.

In this article, the CTIF Health Commission will describe some of the sleep-related challenges that firefighters face, to give the reader a better understanding of the importance of a good healthy sleep pattern, and to help optimize sleep during both shift and personal time.

Download and read the entire article

Firefighters often work in very tough and dangerous conditions and are confronted with a whole range of hazards, and they carry heavy burdens. Mentally, they also have to process a lot of death and destruction encountered on the job.

Firefighters often risk their own life and health to deal with everyday  calls to protect life, property and the  environment. Firefighters never turn their backs on society. No matter what. However, in order to be able to do the job with a minimum of mistakes and avoiding potentially fatal outcomes,  firefighters need to be strong and healthy both physically and mentally when entering the profession. And they need to stay that way throughout their whole career.

This article focuses on nutrition and hydration and how we as firefighters can eat and drink in an intelligent way to stay healthy and to avoid severe and potential life-threatening diseases and problems. Download and read full article as PDF here

Best Practices for Preventing Firefighter Cancer

In most countries it is a focus to minimize the exposure of cancer-causing carcinogens from fires. 

Many deferent factors play a role in this minimizing. The fire house should be divided in clean and contaminated areas to avoid cross contamination, both inside the actual fire house and in the washrooms. 

Procedures on the scene to undress and shower “shower within the hour” and how to handle contaminated turnout gear.

These posters were shared in the 2024 Health Commission Summit at Delegates Assembly in Oslo. 

Experiences was shared and the two posters of “best practice and recommendations” were debated.  No one expect everything to be implemented over night, however the end goal should always be kept in focus and prioritized. 

Download the Best Practices For Preventing Firefighter Cancer 

Minimising firefighters’ exposure to toxic fire effluents

An independent report from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), commissioned by the FBU.  

This report provides background information, statistics, resources and actions vital for improving firefighters’ health and well-being, keeping them safe and preventing the contamination which otherwise will lead to serious health conditions resulting in either life-changing problems and/or premature death. 

READ MORE and download HERE

"What you need to know about occupational cancer for firefighters" is a PDF-magazine meant to enlighten and touches upon some of the most critical areas of BFC’s work. That is why you find interviews with various experts in the magazine, and in addition, there will be links in or around the individual texts that lead to further information on the subject.

Working as a firefighter is both rewarding and exciting but it can also scar the mind and the body, being it´s a job with considerable uncertainty, danger and potentially traumatizing experiences. A good work environment and an attentive administration are crucial.

Trauma researcher Ask Elklit, professor in Clinical Psychology at The University of Southern Denmark, have been researching traumatized groups for decades. 

"It is in the nature of the job to continually have new interventions where difficult problems need to be solved. A given number of those interventions will be extra violent or uncomfortable. Maybe some children die, maybe the victim look similar to your own child, or you show up at a gruesome scene. It can be hard to process and move on from such an experience", Ask Elklit says.

Read more in the Firefighters´Cancer Society Magazine

Tommy Baekgaard Kjaer, Denmark

Chair of the Commission since 2020

Contact the CTIF Health Commission at tk@brandcancer.dk

• Public Firefighter for 27 years from early 1987 to late 2014 included:Educated and trained as a fire officer and instructor from the Danish State Fire service.
• Special training in professional rescue diving, high rescue and chemical diving. Also certified in “Reconstruction and Integration of Traumatic Stress”.
• Worked with psychological health for firefighters since 2004 and with occupational cancers since 2010.
• Editor of firefighter magazine from 2005 to 2017.
• Union leader from 2010 to 2020. Member of board since 2006.
• Board member (Vice president) for European Firefighter Unions Alliance EFFUA from 2008 to 2020.
• Founder and president of “Danish Firefighter´s Cancer Organization” BFC since 2013.
• Author of numerous articles about occupational health and safety for firefighters.
• Speaker to firefighter organizations, Universities and Parliaments around the world about occupational health and safety for firefighters.
• Member of various expert and working groups working for a fire safe Europe.
• Lifelong member of honour within  “The Nordic Firefighters” NBS 2015.
• Winner of “The Danish Community Awards 2015”
• Chairman of the CTIF Health Commission from 2020.

Anders Cederberg, Sweden
 

Main commission member for Sweden

Contact: anders.cederberg@brandfacket.se

Founder of the Firefighters Cancer Fund in Sweden and its Chairman. 

Co-founder of  Healthy Firefighters and has been active in basically everything related to cancer in firefighters both nationally and internationally with a wide network for many years.

Has suffered from cancer himself in the past but is now healthy.
Firefighter since 1982 and now Captain in Greater Stockholm fire service as well as Chairman of
the National Firefighters Confederation, Sweden’s largest union for firefighters.

Peter Berg, Sweden

Stand-in member for Sweden

Contact: peter.bergh@brandfacket.se

Former firefighter and ambulance nurse then in various related positions. 

Co-founder Healthy Firefighters and the Cancer Foundation for Swedish Firefighters. 

Active in a number of different organizations and networks related to the blue light industry and in various managerial positions since early 2000s. 

Passionate about health and not least cancer issues, who himself suffered from cancer but has now been declared healthy. 

Former Association Chairman of the Swedish National Association of Firefighters.

Anders Christian Geertsen, Norway

Mr Geertsen works as a psychologist and a firefighter in a Norwegian district between the high mountains and the deep fjords.

Originally educated as a traditional boatbuilder with 10 years of experience including work with youth at risk, before change of career to become a psychologist. He has published an academic article about Norwegian firefighters' experiences of rescue work during severe traffic accidents. 

Ricardo Daniel Sousa Santos, Portugal

Bomberos Voluntarios Dos Carvalhos BVC
Doctor in the Emergency Department in Hospital Eduardo Santos Silva (Vila Nova de Gaia) and Hospital Senhora Oliveira Guimarães (Guimarães), since 01/2023. 
Medical internship, in the areas of Surgery, Medicine, Public Health, Pediatrics and Medicine at Centro Hospitalar Médio Tejo, since 01/2022 till 12/2022.

Nurse in SNS 24, telephone assistance
and advice in the health sector, nationwide, from 02/2017 to 12/2020.

• Emergency Response Coordinator /
Estádio do Dragão – FCP, since 09/2016
• Firefighter Commander of Bombeiros
Voluntários dos Carvalhos, since 10/2023
• Lieutenant of the Portuguese Air Force, from 06/2007 to 07/2014
• Nurse at Hospital Privado dos Clérigos, from 02/2006 to 05/2007
• Nurse at Hospital Eduardo Santos Silva, from 01/2006 to 02/2006
• Firefighter in Bombeiros Voluntários dos Carvalhos, since 01/2003
1. Masters Degree  in Medicine from Porto University, 2021
2. Portuguese Air Force Officer Training Course, 2008
3. Critical Incident Stress Management by the Portuguese Air Force.
4. Degree in nursing, 2005

Martin zur Nieden, German
 

• 1995 to 2002 Resident, Registrar and Consultant at the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, University of Cologne
• Training as emergency medicine and intensive care medicine specialist
• since 2002 Senior emergency physician
• Institute for emergency medicine, Fire Brigade Cologne
• since 2003 Member of the german firefighter association health commission.
• sinde 2005 German representative at the CTIF health commission
• 1987 to 1993 Medical officer candidate in the German Air Force
• 1988 to 1995 University of Cologne, Germany
• Final graduation: Medical Doctor
• 1997 Doctor's degree

Dr Clemens Novak, Austria

Visited the Higher Institute for Technical Education in Braunau.

Studied Medicin ein Innsbruck and Freiburg. Since 2001 General Practitioner and Emergency Physician. Since 2017 Chief Medical Officer of the Upper Austrian Fire Department.

Since 2022 Chairman of the Health Commission of the Austrian Fire Brigade Association.

Colonel Gábor Szomolányi, Hungary 

Head Physician for the National Directorate General for Disaster Management 

• 1996. Graduate in general medicine
• 1991-1996 University of medicine /Semmelweis Medical University, Budapest/ 1985-1989 High School Révai Miklós, Győr
•  
• Specialization: 2008:  Specialist of healthcare management .
•  2002:  Specialist of occupational diseases

Work experience: 

• 2010-present   National Directorate General for Disaster Management Head Physician.  
• 1998-2010      Hungarian Border Guard medical doctor, Hungary, Budapest

Finland has two members, one ordinary and one vice delegate: Hanna Jantunen and Aki Voukko, from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Hazards. 

Luxembourg is a member nation of the Commission but currently has no appointed delegate. 

Hungary is a member nation of the Commission but currently has no appointed delegate. 

Affiliated members: 

Tiago Riberio, Portugal 

• Volunteer firefighter from 2003 to 2019, when he professionally joined as intervention team leader.
• Member of a heli-transported team in fighting forest fires from 2013 to 2017. GNR-GIPS
• Rescue and extrication trainer, off-road driving trainer
• Confined space and height rescue technician
• Firefighter Mayday Program Portugal Instructor
• Awareness speaker “Cancer in the fire service”

CTIF EC contact person:

Otto Drozd, USA

Executive Secretary, Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association | NFPA

Chief Otto Drozd has 35 years of firefighting experience, including 20 years as a fire chief in Florida and Texas. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Public Management and is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program. Chief Drozd's leadership led to the accelerated development of NFPA 3000™, the Standard for an Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response (ASHER) Program. He is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences and has held key positions in prominent firefighting associations.