The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), with support from the U.S. Fire Administration, partnered with the HOPE Health Research Institute to conduct a study on obesity in the fire service. The report begins by stating that although the image of a healthy, fit firefighter is still intact, “a chilling epidemic” of obesity caused by unhealthy eating and physical activity habits threatens to undermine the ability of firefighters to effectively and safely respond to emergencies.
The report addresses the obesity epidemic in the U.S., its effects on the fire industry, new trends on how to combat the problem and then offers recommendations for departments. Chapter 2 looks specifically at obesity in the fire service:
Rates of overweight and obese individuals in the fire service are higher than those found in the general public, ranging from 73 percent to 88 percent of firefighters.
The high rates of obesity in the fire service do not appear to be due to inaccuracy in measurement.
Research demonstrates that a large percentage of firefighters do not meet minimal standards of physical fitness.
Occupational factors may place firefighters at high risk for weight gain, including shift work, sleep disruption, unhealthy eating patterns in the firehouse, and the absence of fitness standards for firefighters.
Overweight and obese firefighters have been shown to suffer from a large number of problems compared to their colleagues, including hypertension, higher risks for cardiovascular disease, low fitness, reduced muscular strength, and more frequent cardiac events.
Overweight and obese firefighters are less fit to perform their jobs and cost fire departments significantly more than firefighters with a healthy weight.
Several initiatives have attempted to address the high levels of overweight, obese, and unfit firefighters, including NFPA 1583: Standard on Health-Related Fitness Programs for Fire Department Members, NFPA 1582: Standard on Comprehensive Occupational Medical Programs for Fire Departments, the NVFC’s Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program, the NVFC and U.S. Fire Administration’s Health and Wellness Guide for the Volunteer Fire and Emergency Services, and the International Association of Fire Fighters/International Association of Fire Chiefs Wellness/Fitness Initiative
NIOSH provided a status update on its long-term firefighter cancer study, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Fire Administration and the National Cancer Institute. The goal of the study is to determine whether firefighters have a higher risk of cancer and other illness due to on-the-job toxin exposure. Researchers are analyzing the health of more than 30,000 firefighters who worked between 1950 and 2010 at San Francisco, Philadelphia and Chicago fire departments.
“The cooperation of the fire departments in these three cities has been exceptional,” Study Director Travis Kubale wrote in a NIOSH newsletter. “Department staff, city officials and union leaders have gone out of their way to welcome us and help us get underway with the project.”
Kubale said they are near completion of identifying all firefighters who worked during 1950 to 2010. Researchers have collected their individual work histories and are in the process of gathering exposure information, including fire runs made and the dates of when personal protective equipment and diesel exhaust controls were put into place at the departments.
“NIOSH team members work with fire department staff (personnel, payroll, and information technology), retirement board and fire museum staff to locate the information needed for the study. Some departments archive records off-site, which we retrieve and review,” Kubale wrote. “Once we locate and collect the records, we spend many hours poring over ledgers, annual report and microfiche. This time-intensive process is critical for the study’s integrity. To date, NIOSH data coders have made approximately 790,000 separate data entries for the San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia departments.”
Firefighting can be an extremely physically demanding job, at an emergency call firefighters are required wear an extra 50 lbs of protective clothing and equipment. They are expected to be able to climb flights of stairs, carry heavy hoses and pull victims to safety. The stress levels on the body is so high that the lead cause of fatal injuries to firefighters is a heart attack.
Because of this it is imperative that a firefighter be in the best physical shape possible.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has guidelines for firefighter exercise expectations, and most fire departments have made it mandatory for their members to work out a certain number of hours per week.
However as the Los Angeles Times reports most of firefighters’ injuries might be as a result of exercising not firefighting. Jeannine Stein for the Los Angeles Times writes:
“A study released online Wednesday in the journal Injury Prevention looked at injuries sustained by 650 firefighters and emergency medical service workers (paramedics, engineers, inspectors and battalion chiefs) at 21 fire stations from 2004 to 2009. The frequency of injuries per year was on average 17.7 per 100 employees.
Almost 33% of all injuries happened during mandatory exercise during a worker’s shift. The exercises are geared to keep emergency workers in shape for the types of jobs they do and to prevent injury. Transporting patients accounted for 16.9% of injuries, training drills 11.1% and fireground operations 10.2%.
“Exploring the root causes of these events and the manner in which physical exercise is performed, monitored and evaluated,” the authors wrote, “should be of greater emphasis within the fire service.”
With research showing that 40 percent of victims involved in building collapses suffer from crush injuries, Dr. David Tan describes some important tips for treating these injuries and examines crush injuries in the USAR setting.
The newly reopened September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of $2.8 billion started taking applications Monday.
The fund is intended to help people who became ill after working at ground zero and others whose sicknesses can be tied to the site. Residents, workers and others can apply, including those whose claims to the first fund were denied.
“Everybody who is eligible should apply for this,” said John Feal, a leading advocate for injured first responders.
The deadline for applying for help is Oct. 3, 2013, or two years from the time a person learns that a physical injury or sickness resulted from exposure to ground zero. The program will run for six years.
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) guidelines for training offer the minimum requirements that departments can follow to ensure that trainingneeds are being met and upheld. The problem doesn’t lie with the NFPA, but with departments and trainers who feel that the minimum is good enough when it comes to training.
We can’t afford to maximize training in all areas; it would be too costly and require adding a lot of time to a program. But arguably we cut training to the bare bones on one issue that has been surfacing over and over again–driver training.
Every day, an emergency vehicle is involved in a collision somewhere. We see it on the news, get it in our e-mail, on our Smart phones, etc. What we don’t see are the lawsuits that involve departments, personnel, and families of members. The pennies saved by cutting training on the front end turn into big dollars paid out on the back end. Departments are often called to defend themselves after a collision occurs; training records, personnel files, and a litany of other material is subpoenaed. Overtime and workers compensation cases add more to the payout.
Click here to read the entire article at Fire Engineering.
LION is and has always been known for bringing the most comfortable and safe gear to the fire service. We’ve recently gathered feedback from firefighters about what they’re looking for in improving comfort and the interface in the head, neck and face area and have developed the brand new Contoured Comfort Collar. Field testing validated these improvements, and now we are bringing these changes to all wearers of LION Janesville® turnout gear by making the Contoured Comfort Collar standard on all LION Janesville® turnout coat models beginning Oct. 1.
Some features and benefits of our new collar design include:
– Ergonomically shaped using contoured pattern to improve comfort and interface.
– Smooth one piece transition at the shell/liner interface increasing comfort. No bulky seams or hook and loop to rub at the back of the neck.
– Liner attachment at the top of the collar to allow for a natural break in order to use the collar effectively in the up or down position.
– Continuous thermal and moisture protection around the neck and face to provide optimum comfort while the collar is upright or rolled down.
– Versatility – up or down, improves interface with other PPE elements.
– Standard 3” collar height with optional 4” height. Optional throat tab.
Want to know more about LION’s full line of personal protective equipment for firefighters, such as structural boots, gloves and helmets? Visit http://www.lionprotects.com/fire-and-rescue to see our product lineup.
For the uninitiate (a person unfamiliar with a specific topic or subject) upon first seeing the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge, the likely question: “What is this and where did it come from?“ Good questions, both.
Back in the dark ages of personnel selection, fire chiefs believed that big(ger) people tended to excel at the avocation. Ergo, there were minimum height and weight standards. No one considered that women would ever want a career in this most male of occupations. Disparate impact was an unfamiliar term in those days. So, in 1975, Chief David Gratz who was the director of fire-rescue service for Montgomery County (MD) and Dr. Leonard Marks paid us a visit at the Sports Medicine Center of the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health, Department of Kinesiology. They wanted to know if there was a way to measure what it took to, for example, climb a ladder and chop a hole in a roof. “Sure,” we remarked.
What best prepares a firefighter for the job? Classroom lectures? Experience through on-the-job training? Both? Neither? Each option has its proponents and its opponents. There have been discussions (and at times, heated debates) about experience versus credentials at firehouse kitchen tables all over the country for years.
What we are really talking about is training. What training method works best? What training method works best for you? Before you answer, think about the last time you learned something. For decades, people have been studying the ways, the means, and the methods that we humans learn “stuff”. After all this research, they came up with a blinding flash of the obvious: It depends.
In this “Kitchen Table Debrief” I will talk about the various methods we use to learn new things, and how we can best ensure our organizations implement the principles and methods to help everyone continue to learn and grow.
Click here to read the entire article on FireLink.
It’s a time for remembrance. Nearly 3,000 people were murdered. Each loss creates an unfillable void for family, friends, our fire service and first responder community, and the nation.
It’s a time for reflection. Right after 9/11, as a country, we stood as one. That sense of oneness has looked and felt increasingly fragile over the past two years of economic and political turmoil in our country.
It’s a time for renewed solidarity: to recommit ourselves to a belief in that oneness that we felt so strongly 10 years ago. The challenges we face in each of our communities and in the nation can only be solved through believing in oneness not divisiveness. Divisiveness is what our enemies hope for.
We must also recommit ourselves to the defense of our country – and to its core values. On 9/11, we were attacked by radical Islamist forces not for a specific policy, but for who we are. Remember: in 1993, under a different president from a different party, there was another deadly terror attack on the Twin Towers. It’s America – and what we stand for – that’s the target.
I thank each of our first responders for putting your lives on the line daily to keep our families and communities safe. I hope our nation never experiences anything like 9/11 again, but if we do, know that we as a company are doing everything we can to keep you safe and ready to respond to whatever challenge you face.
The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), with support from the U.S. Fire Administration, partnered with the HOPE Health Research Institute to conduct a study on obesity in the fire service. The report begins by stating that although the image of a healthy, fit firefighter is still intact, “a chilling epidemic” of obesity caused by unhealthy eating and physical activity habits threatens to undermine the ability of firefighters to effectively and safely respond to emergencies.
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