Protecting the Firefighters Who Protect Abington Township

Abington Township, PA…It takes tremendous physical effort  to save people and property from fires and other emergencies. That’s why Abington Township Fire Department (ATFD) has implemented a physical and health screening program to protect the health and safety of the volunteer firefighters that perform these duties.

About 150 members of ATFD’s five fire companies underwent vision and hearing screenings, blood work, a lung function test, an EKG, and a chest x-ray during the first week of May. Tuesday was exam day for McKinley Fire Company volunteers. Firefighters said they were appreciative for the information the screenings provide.

Firefighter Danielle Loeffel said the testing gave her piece of mind for herself and her husband Bob, also a McKinley volunteer. “It gives you confidence that you’re ok to do what you have to do on scene,” she said.

“It gives you reassurance that you’re physically fit and ok to fight fires,” agreed Firefighter Gary Schenk.

Bob Loeffel said the tests were especially good for him, as he doesn’t get an annual physical. If the screening picked up a problem, he would follow up with his personal doctor, he said.

Administered by technicians and a doctor from Professional Health Services, the physical and health screenings are confidential. ATFD is only told whether the firefighter is fit for all duties, fit for duty with some limitations, or not currently fit for duty. Firefighters receive the specific results in a confidential, sealed envelope so they can share the information with their personal physician. The purpose of this testing is to establish baseline values for future comparisons and as a preventive measure to uncover any potential risk areas the member and their physician should be aware of.

This is the fourth year for the exams. The Abington Township Board of Commissioners supports the annual health screenings, based on National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1582 guidelines, with funding because it recognizes that the first step to reducing injuries and illnesses in the line of duty is ensuring firefighters are healthy and effective.

Professional Health Services Doctor Betty Marchant, a practitioner of occupational medicine, sees the free-to-firefighters tests as a fitting way for Abington to give something back to volunteers who so often put the well-being of others first. “It’s a nice reward to give people for their service to the community,” she said.

Since the program began, no ATFD volunteer has ever had to give up firefighting. There have been findings that merited a visit to the volunteer’s doctor – the need for eye glasses or for medication to address a treatable condition such as high blood pressure, for example. Lung function tests determined that a few volunteers should limit their use of breathing apparatus.

McKinley Fire Chief Chris Bors and Deputy Chief Paul Conroy say the health clearances mean less worry for them as department leaders. In Bors’ experience, men especially tend not to see their doctors regularly if left to their own devices, but this program “makes a regular habit of getting an annual physical.”

The health clearances also relieve worry for volunteers’ non-firefighting family members. Bors’ wife Jennifer “just commented today that she thinks the program provides a more rigorous physical than I would get at a doctor’s office,” he said.

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Abington Township’s Volunteer Fire Department always needs more volunteers. Find out how to become one at www.AbingtonFD.org.