FireFit Program
The Federal Fire and Aviation Safety Team has developed a fitness program for wildland firefighters called FireFit.
This program was created with the intent to provide the interagency wildland fire community with a comprehensive, easy-to-follow, fitness program with the ultimate goal of improving firefighter safety and health and reducing injuries.
Check out their web site to get the details.
Are you as physically fit as you would like to be?
Effects of Flu Pandemic on Fire Service
The IAFF has an article that lists recommendations for responding to a flu pandemic (via Firefighter Blog).
“With the threat of a human-to-human outbreak of the avian flu escalating, our challenge as all-hazard emergency responders is to prepare now, before the flu reaches pandemic proportions,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger.
Here is an excellent checklist that you can use.
Here is an overview of a flu pandemic from the IAFF.
A pandemic can really have an impact on a fire department. Firefighters could be down with the flu just like members of the public. Will there be enough firefighters to respond effectively? Firefighters may be asked to assist with vaccination programs. Fire halls could be used for vaccination centers. With large portions of a population sick with the flu, infrastructure will suffer. Will there be enough dispatchers at the dispatch centers? Firefighters may also be asked to assist the EMTs to transport people to the hospital.
Has your department prepared for this type of event?
How Toxic was Ground Zero for Rescuers?
It is no surprise that the 9/11 site in New York City was dangerous to the health of the rescuers working there. This article from Fire Engineering highlights what was found on a shirt that was worn at the site for 48 hours immediately after the attack.
The volunteer kept his contaminated shirt packed in a sealed plastic bag until last week, when The Post sent the garment to RJ Lee Group laboratories for testing.Analyzed portions of his shirt collar reveal a chilling concentration of chrysotile asbestos - 93,000 times higher than the average typically found in the environment in U.S. cities.
...
Testing also revealed the shirt was contaminated with zinc, mercury, antimony, barium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead and molybdenum. Tons of the heavy metals were pulverized and burned in the debris in fires that raged for four months.
This shows that the rescuers who worked at the site were exposed to some really nasty stuff. The people who were caught in the initial dust cloud when the buildings collapsed were also exposed to these toxic substances.
These exposures will have some long term effects that people are just starting to understand.
This quote really got my attention:
"It is an urgent situation. If the government does not act . . . in terms of setting up [widespread] medical testing . . . more people over the next few years will die of toxic diseases than died on 9/11."
Not good.
Heart Attack Questions
Dr. Helen (along with her husband Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit fame) is asking for questions for a podcast with cardiac professionals. Since heart attacks are a big concern for firefighters, I've left her a question to ask the cardiac folks. You should too.
Cancer as Job Hazard
This is the first I've heard of this, but British Columbia, along with several other Canadian provinces, has recognized cancer as a job hazard among firefighters (from CANOE via FireFightingNews.com).
VICTORIA (CP) -- The B.C. government introduced a law Monday that recognizes cancer as one of the many hazards firefighters face while on the job.Labour Minister Mike de Jong said Bill 11 recognizes certain cancers as occupational diseases associated with long-term employment as a firefighter.
The law changes the Workers Compensation Act to make it easier for a firefighter with cancer to receive compensation benefits, he said.
I've heard of some studies that are working on this issue to determine if firefighters have a higher risk of cancer, but I haven't seen any concrete results yet.
It will be interesting to see if the Canadian perspective has an impact here in the U.S.
Firefighter Fitness
As a volunteer firefighter in a small town, I can honestly say that I'm not in the kind of shape that I want to be. I can also say that there are a lot of firefighters that are in much worse shape than I am.
This piece from the Ogden Standard-Examiner got me to thinking about this subject.
The Ogden Fire Department is working with physical trainers, medical staff, the firefighter's union and legal teams to come up with set requirements for the test, which may involve sit-ups, push-ups and treadmill exercise. It could also include a firefighting simulation....
"Not meeting the standard eventually will (result in firing), but we're talking about a three-year period," Owen said.
"We're not trying to fire anybody because they don't meet the standard."
Instead, firefighters are more likely to face specific mandates in workout activities if they don't meet the standards, which have not yet been set.
I'm not familiar with fire department policies on fitness. We don't have a fitness policy in Miller, but I think we probably should. Does your department have a fitness policy? What does it consist of? Please send an e-mail or post a comment. Thanks.
Study on Cancer Inconclusive
An article from the Baltimore Sun (via US Firefighting News) notes that a study of cancer among Anne Arundel firefighters was inconclusive.
Anne Arundel County firefighters have a "somewhat greater" risk of developing cancer than the general public, but the health problems of 17 firefighters who contracted at least one form of cancer could not be directly linked to training methods at the fire academy in Millersville, the Johns Hopkins University public health officials said yesterday.A 10-month study, released yesterday, said that county firefighters who trained in Millersville between 1971 and 1979 were exposed to cancer-causing PCBs when the Fire Department burned waste oil for exercises.
But Johns Hopkins researchers said that based on the $25,000 study, which was conducted at the request of the county and state, they could not say exposure to the burned fuel led to the cancer cases. Similar studies in Chicago and Seattle have also found an elevated cancer risk among firefighters but no link to specific practices.
This study was very narrow and further information needs to be gathered.
The results "speak to the need to do a formal study. ... We have a very incomplete picture," said Dr. Jonathan Samet, the lead investigator and chairman of the epidemiology department at Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health.
As firefighters, we are exposed to smoke and the chemicals within the smoke on a regular basis. Are you limiting that exposure as much as you can while still accomplishing your duties?
PSOB to Include Heart Attacks and Strokes
From Firehouse.com, the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program will soon cover firefighters that die due to heart attacks or strokes. This is a big deal since so many firefighters are affected by these health issues.
This means the regulations will be published shortly, and the publication will be followed by a public comment period of 60 to 90 days, Webb said. In the meantime, the DOJ is expected to implement an interim rule, Webb said. "What that rule is I don't know," he said.
It will be important for the fire service to send in their comments during the comment period. Stay tuned and I’ll be sure to post when the comment period starts and ends.
