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Ladies and Gentlemen Its Time We Take a No Nonsense Approach to our Health

The number of Firefighter Deaths due to Cardiac issues has always troubled me. I have wondered are we seriously unhealthy? Are there job related risk factors? Should we expect firefighters to be healthier than the average man or woman in america or expect the fire service to follow the health trends of society? Should we expect a future of over weight, out of shape, Diabetic FIrefighters? Most of us have seen the preliminary findings released 3/17 from the FEMA sponsored study indicating job related risk factors for heart disease in firefighters! To me this is just another piece of convicting evidence that we need change, a lifestyle change, cultural change when it comes to health and fitness in the fire service. We need to stop making excuses and take control of the risk factors we have a direct impact on! Proper Diet and conditioning are imperative or Health related issues will continue to plague the fire service. We need to be setting the example and educating the public when it comes to health and fitness! I would love to here member thoughts, comments and recommendations on how we can change!

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Permalink Reply by Jason Hoevelmann on March 20, 2009 at 5:13pm

Hey, run for the Courage and Valor Foundation. On April 25th at FDIC they are holding a run. If you can't make it there or are running somewhere else, at least register and run for the foundation. Go out and get pleadges and donate. If you can't get a t-shirt from the actual race, I can help get one to you. Just email me at sfpdfm@fidmail.com. Run for your own health and for the great cause.

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Permalink Reply by Bobby Halton on March 20, 2009 at 5:22pm

Erron,
I could not agree more with your statement in light of several reports just released regarding cardiac wellness in the fire service your post couldn't be more timely. I would challenge everyone who reads this who is coming to FDIC to participate in the 5K fun run. I would challenge everyone who reads this to do some type of aerobic activity at least five times a week. It's clearly a matter of professionalism. John Salka on the back page of firehouse magazine this month wrote great piece about firefighters and conditioning. But I do not want to encourage anyone to read firehouse, clearly just the opposite but John does get it right. As soon as that magazine goes out of business we will get John back! I'm just kidding firehouse is a wonderful magazine and Harvey Eisner is one of my best friends. And Chief Salka got it right this month. Bobby

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Permalink Reply by matt days on March 22, 2009 at 10:21am

Just a suggestion. Check out the "Tabata" workout. Great workout for our type of work. Not to say do it all the time, but will help keep the weight off and improve the strength and stamina.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Hoevelmann on March 22, 2009 at 12:34pm

I've also used P90x and had good results. It is tough at first, but if you hang with it, it really works.

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Permalink Reply by Al on March 22, 2009 at 11:31pm

I agree with you 100%! It seems that our firefighters are getting better. Our department has initiated a fitness for life bonus. If you pass your yearly medical by performing well on some fitness tests, you get a 3% bonus. Not bad for keeping healthy. I'm seeing folks exercise that never did before. It's really encouraging. Now we have to do something about our diets. With all that idle time and sweets sitting around, it's no wonder our heart health is bad.

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