Fire Fighter Fitness— An Often Overlooked Area of Maintenance
HEALTH
A well-maintained human body will give the same optimum performance as a well-maintained apparatus. Perhaps it’s time to cash in on the current nationwide interest in physical fitness.
All chiefs strive to keep their equipment and apparatus in tip-top shape through scheduled maintenance programs, checkups, replacement of equipment, etc. But what about the physical shape of their fire fighters? Do chiefs and city managers have a maintenance program to ensure the tip-top shape of the fire fighters who operate the well-maintained apparatus and equipment?
Few jobs are more physically demanding than fire fighting, and good job performance demands that fire fighters have a high level of fitness.
Medical and physical tests should be required before potential fire fighters enter the department. This way, we start with fire fighters who can be expected to have a reasonable warranty time on their bodies. The terms of the warranty must begin with recruit training.
During this breaking-in period, a physical fitness program should be conducted as part of the formal training process. Orientation of the recruit should emphasize the need and importance of life-long fitness, as a high level of fitness helps negate the damaging effects of heat, smoke and stress. In addition to decreasing fatigue and the chance of serious injury, physical fitness also gives a healthy outlook on life and increases self-esteem. Instructors must try to get the recruits to give an internal commitment through self-motivation to the fitness program. Successful methods include instructor participation and leadership; stressing the need for fitness as a basis of not only life style but also effective and efficient fire fighting; identifying at regular intervals statistical improvements and candidates’ physiological structures; instituting some sort of competition award; and reinforcing the value of the course by having recruits pass an exam. The self-commitment of the fire fighter will go a long way towards fulfilling the limited warranty on his body.
A scheduled maintenance program
One approach to fire fighter maintenance is to mandate a required physical fitness program. Physical activity can be conducted during a specific time slot of the tour. This program would include muscular strength and endurance (weight lifting, calisthenics, etc.) as well as cardiovascular activities to increase the body’s ability to utilize oxygen (jogging, swimming, etc.).
Periodic tests with minimum required scores should be given annually. Departments such as Los Angeles that have instituted fitness programs have been able to demonstrate lower injury rates and less downtime for their personnel. A successful mandatory program requires cooperation among fire fighters, labor officials and city managers.
Voluntary programs
Voluntary or incentive type maintenance plans can be approached in many ways. However, in order for this type of program to succeed, fire department administrators must actively cooperate and not merely pay lip service to this concept.
Team sports. Fire fighters with a high degree of athletic ability can compete in such team sports as football, hockey, soccer, basketball, boxing, etc. Interstation competition can also serve as an incentive to maintain fitness.
Walking/jogging programs. The main thrust of a walking/jogging program is to try to prevent premature death due to heart disease. Heart attack is still the number one killer of fire fighters on the fireground, and the chances of suffering a heart attack increase with age.
Before embarking on this jogging program, new members should fill out a registration card and have their blood pressure, resting pulse and percent of body fat tested and recorded. An informal presentation of the known risk factors for heart disease should be discussed, and information on recommended exercises, calorie charts and nutrition distributed. Members should be taught how to monitor their pulse rates so that fitness programs can be followed safely and sanely.
As members become increasingly fit, they should be encouraged to increase the demands of their fitness programs. Again, the spirit of competition can assist. For example, a Brooklyn, N.Y., fire station sponsors three 5-mile races a year, attracting more than 1000 competing fire fighters across the country.
Another incentive program getting underway is a fitness and health award. All active fire fighters will be eligible. A healthy life style will be considered for this award, i.e., a candidate must be a nonsmoker; his blood pressure cannot exceed 140/90; and body fat cannot exceed 20 percent for males and 26 percent for females. Aerobic fitness will be tested with a timed 5-mile run. Muscular endurance will be tested by the completion of push-ups, chin-ups and sit-ups. The successful candidate will be rewarded with a medal, certificate and chest insignia.
All chiefs should consider adopting some type of physical fitness program to assure a reliable performance and maintenance level for fire fighters. It must be mentioned that a healthy body is difficult to maintain without a healthy mind, and stress is often at the base of many health problems, including heart disease and peptic ulcers. If any fire fighter should develop an emotional problem, professional counseling facilities should be made available.
Fire fighters have an obligation to themselves and their profession to keep their most precious resources—themselves—in top working condition.
Several reference sources to help your department’s fitness program get started are: Fire Service Physical Fitness Program, U.S. Department of Commerce booklet; Health and Fitness for the Firefighter, Dubois/Otto, Massachusetts Department of Public Health; and The Firefighters Survival Manual, Davis, Curtis, an NFPA publication.
Percentage Breakdown of Causes for Line-of-Duty Deaths
