Home - National Institute for Public Safety Health NonProfit Research Center dedicated to First Responders Our Mission To provide the highest quality research education and advocacy to maximize the health and safety of public safety personnel Research NIPSH contributes to first responder health science through the collection analysis and dissemination of firefighter and law enforcement research data Education We educate stakeholders on first responder health through presentations targeted to the fire service and law enforcement communities Advocacy Members of the NIPSH team serve on local state and national committees and task forces dedicated to improving first responder health and wellbeing Our Why Fire EMS and law enforcement represent some of the most dangerous professions in the United States. This danger not only comes from the physical nature of first responders onduty activities but from the exposures they experience during those activities. SINCE 1977 Sudden cardiac death has been the leading cause of onduty firefighter death in the U. S.