The following is General President Edward Kelly’s column from the Fall 2025 edition of Fire Fighter International Magazine.
You’ve heard me say the mission of the IAFF starts in front of a church.
It’s a moment every one of us, unfortunately, can relate to – gathering to honor a brother or sister who made the ultimate sacrifice. And, for me, it’s the clearest reminder of what’s at stake. It pushes us to ask what could have been different and what needs to change so that fewer families face the same loss again.
This is why our union exists. The IAFF is focused squarely on making a dangerous job as safe as possible, and nowhere is that work more evident than in our Division of Health, Safety, and Medicine.
The threats we’re up against today are more complex than ever before – occupational cancers, cardiac events, behavioral health issues, rising violence on emergency calls, and chronic injuries that follow members long after they hang up their gear. These are just a few of the realities the IAFF is confronting head-on. And we’re relying on our own experts to do it.
Since becoming General President, the IAFF has invested heavily in a modern health and safety operation that uses research and field experience to inform our decision-making. That approach is guiding how we’re improving fire fighter protective gear, strengthening safety protections, and building the medical and behavioral health initiatives our members rely on. It ensures our union’s approach isn’t driven by assumptions or industry influence, but by credible data. And we are all better off for it.
This issue’s cover story gives you a closer look at these initiatives – and the people leading the work: Assistant to the General President for Health and Safety Sean DeCrane, Chief Medical Officer Dan Whu, MD, and Chief Science Advisor Derek Urwin, Ph.D. Each brings a different skill set to the table, and, impressively, each comes from the field. Sean from Cleveland, OH Local 93, Dan from Metro-Dade County, FL Local 1403, and Derek from Los Angeles County, CA Local 1014. Between them, they lead a headquarters staff of more than 20 professionals who work every day to improve the lives of fire fighters.
They understand the job because they’ve lived it – the stress, the hazards, the exposures, the calls. Those experiences matter when you’re creating the standards and programs meant to protect fire fighters and emergency medical workers.
We built this team for a reason: the IAFF needed its own experts to drive the changes and protections you deserve.
Sean’s work shows what that looks like in practice. He oversees our members serving on NFPA committees and sits on several policy groups himself, including the International Code Council. The IAFF must be at the table any time standards for our safety and well-being are being decided – and Sean is leading those efforts.
He played a central role in driving the revisions to NFPA 1970 – work that helped remove PFAS from our bunker gear and chart a new course for safer PPE. That change didn’t come from industry; it came from fire fighters shaping standards for fire fighters.
As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Whu analyzes new and emerging medicines, testing procedures, and health advances that could benefit our members.
Dan’s work through the IAFF’s Medical Assistance Program – formally adopted by delegates at our 57th Convention – has already changed outcomes for families whose line-of-duty death benefits were denied. He’s able to connect the medical science to the facts of a case. And his experience as a fire fighter serves him well in advocating for our members and their families.
Dr. Urwin is building relationships with scientists and universities that are helping the IAFF expand the research into the unique health risks fire fighters face – including ALS, cardiac disease, female-specific health issues, and occupational cancer.
Derek’s ongoing wildfire research is helping us link exposures on the job with the health outcomes members are dealing with years later. With experience both on the fireground and in the lab, he’s building the evidence we need to push for better health protections for the generations coming up behind us.
As a labor organization, the IAFF is leading the way in developing our own research programs, medical expertise, and influence on national standards and training. It means our decisions are guided by science and shaped by the people doing the work – not by manufacturers, outside interests, or industry consultants looking to make a dollar.
All of this is focused on helping members live longer, healthier lives. Our loyalty is to dead fire fighters, past and future. The IAFF is working toward a day when we have fewer funerals – fewer preventable deaths and fewer families grieving the loss of their loved ones.
That’s the mission.
