Overexertion Still #1 Cause of Death

Journalism forces a person to be an “instant expert.” Reporters have to be quick studies on various things outside their pay grade.

That’s why writing for the Haddam Volunteer Fire Company poses a problem: I’m still fairly new and far from an expert. But as International Fire/EMS Safety and Health Month comes to a close, getting in shape is something I can speak about from experience.

About 10 years ago I crushed the scale at 260 pounds. Besides eating a lot, I had other bad habits like drinking and smoking. I had to do something so I set out to lose some weight.

I was good at deadlines so I made my wedding my drop-dead date (no pun intended). Little by little I tapered and by my wedding day in 2009 I was down to 180 pounds. I had lost 80 pounds! I've also stopped drinking and smoking but those are subjects for another soapbox. I don’t say this as a feather in my cap. I can only dream of being 180 now and a couple guys in my department made far more inspiring transformations (I won’t say who but their names rhyme with “Jed Morrissey” and "Ben Tiezzi"). What I will tell you is that if I can do it, you can, too.

I know … Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re nagged enough at home about getting off the couch and eating less junk.

Well, this may be unpopular but there’s a difference: When you’re a firefighter, staying in shape stops being a personal choice and starts being a matter of public safety.

Volunteer firefighters come from all walks of life. Our ranks are filled with folks of all shapes and sizes. But when the alarm bell rings, we are expected to be not only technically proficient, but physically up to the task.

A house fire is no place to stop and take a breather.

Firefighters don’t need to look very far for motivation. The number of firefighters passing away from sudden cardiac events is alarming. In fact, it’s the biggest threat for a firefighter – not smoke or flames or falling debris.

Year to year, sudden cardiac arrests kill more on-duty firefighters than anything else. According to the National Fire Protection Association, of the 97 on-duty firefighter deaths in 2013, one-third (33 percent) resulted from over-exertion. Of the 32 deaths in the category of “overexertion, stress and related medical issues,” 29 were classified as sudden cardiac deaths (usually heart attacks), one due to a cerebral aneurysm, one to a stroke and one was a suicide.

Structure fires are few and far between but they are punishing: blinding smoke, toxic fumes, temperatures pushing 1,000 degrees, hot enough to melt a fire helmet. Then add in 70 plus pounds of protective gear. In a burning building, body temperatures routinely hit 104 degrees.

That sudden surge of activity is a huge contrast to the hours of sedentary activity endured by career firefighters, while volunteer firefighters often go long periods of time between calls.

Now consider that any given moment could be “The Big One.” We may find ourselves rolling out of bed in the middle of the night and placing huge demands on our systems. The awful truth is that if your cardiovascular health isn’t up to the challenge, it could be last time you put your gear on.

Cardiac events even happen when they don’t make sense.

It didn’t make sense that New Britain’s Deputy Fire Chief David Fiori would suffer a heart attack at his desk the night before Memorial Day. The 59-year-old had been a firefighter for 36 years, was a former Marine, physically fit – “the kind of guy that wanted to see everybody develop to their fullest potential,” Hartford Fire Capt. James McLoughlin told NBC Connecticut.

In other words, the sort of person that health insurers consider “low risk.”

While Fiori’s death is baffling, if shows that if we could lose him, we could lose anyone.

Someone once told me that the physical exertion required to go through one bottle of air in an active fire is the equivalent of getting up without a warm up and running two miles. Ever since, I’ve made that distance part of my daily routine.

Look, no one’s saying you have to be “calendar ready.” I’m no Mr. January either. So maybe you’re not big and brawny, a certified interior firefighter still has a certain moral obligation to stay in the best shape possible.

In Haddam we’re very lucky to have a workout room in Station One. I’ve heard people outside of the Fire Service call it an unnecessary expense. I might agree if nobody used it, but I know several members who use it regularly – not as many as should but enough to justify its existence.

The other part of this is that everywhere firefighters go – especially in a shirt bearing their department’s name – they represent their organizations.

What do you think your local taxpayers say to themselves when they see a volunteer member who’s obviously out of shape? You think it gives them confidence in their responders? I promise you, it does not.

Yes there are annual physicals, but volunteers need to do their P.E. homework. To enter the Fire Service as a career, people need to pass the Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT). For police officers in many states, passing the Cooper Fitness Test is necessary for employment. In EMS there are no fitness standards, but that all changes next year when the National Registry of Emergency Medical Workers (NREMW) validates fitness standards for all EMTs and Paramedics. This testing will be administered for all new EMS workers and will become part of the recertification process.

In the Fire Service, especially for volunteers, knowing nozzles and pump adapters is only half the job. The other half is the energy to finish what you've started. Because you never know when that pager will go off and it’s “The Big One.”    

Do You Have What It Takes? Find more information on the activities of the Haddam Volunteer Fire Co. and ways you can get involved at our website www.haddamfire.com, or connect with us on Facebook.