Motivating Firefighters to Maintain Physical Fitness

By Randall Hanifen
Contributor, EDM Digest

It is no secret that firefighting is a very strenuous job. It is also no secret that many volunteer or paid firefighters are in poor levels of fitness.

While we have noted some improvement over the past decades in attention to health and safety, how much change have we noted? We typically see new fire department hires who are in shape and able to pass a physical capabilities test. But by five years later, they are barely able to get out of the fire engine.

Recently, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) released their annual firefighter death report, which showed only 64 line-of-duty deaths, in keeping with a trend of under 70 deaths per year.

While the low number of on-duty deaths is commendable, the highest percentage (40%) of those deaths came from cardiac-related events. Much work has been done to prevent this type of firefighter death, but more effort can be made in fire departments.

Fire Service Standards, Initiatives and Training Enhancements

Within the fire service, safety standards such as NFPA 1500 have been developed by great leaders and others in the fire service at all ranks. There are also fitness standards, such as NFPA 1583, and a medical standard in NFPA 1582. In addition, there are joint labor and management initiatives in the International Association of Fire Fighters and the International Association of Fire Chiefs Wellness-Fitness Initiative.

Also, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) has created Life Safety Initiatives that nearly every fire academy in the country has incorporated into their curriculum.

In addition, the National Fire Academy overhauled nearly every course they offer to include a safety and wellness section. As a result, we firefighters could not be more inundated with wellness and safety information in our educational journey.

Staying in Shape Requires a Healthy Lifestyle throughout a Firefighter’s Career

Once of the issues with physical fitness in the fire service is that it is not every third-day initiative that you can only utilize while at work. It is a lifestyle.

Many of us start out in the profession in our early 20s. Often, we are single with no kids and few responsibilities, other than showing up to work every third day. We have all the time in the day to work out. We have not developed poor eating habits and if we have, our metabolism compensates for the lack of proper nutrition.

Fast-forward five to 10 years. By then, we often have a spouse and children. Sometimes, we take on part-time work to compensate for all of the added expenses that come with a spouse and children. Next thing we know, we have gained 20 pounds and only pay for a gym membership rather than actually using the gym.

By this point, our metabolism is not helping us. Doing the job of firefighting has become markedly harder to recover from, and we need a day or two to recover from a fire.

Leadership Involves Setting the Example for Physical Fitness

While it is great that health, safety and wellness enhancements are in our curriculum, a look around the room in leadership classes often show many fire service leaders who are not an example of fitness or safety. While there are many reasons for executives to become physically unfit, they all boil down to a lack of priority for fitness.

Physical fitness can be attained by anyone. I have a friend that is in a wheelchair due to an accident, and he maintains a fitness level to have adventures with his son. He prioritizes his family and does what it takes.

Some executives state that they are no longer on the front lines and do not need the same level of physical fitness as other firefighters. While I would agree that using a computer mouse at a desk rather than stretching hose takes two different fitness levels, people look to leaders who push initiatives to see if they also “walk the walk.”

Similarly, would you use a financial advisor that does not invest in what they suggest for you? Would you buy a Chevy from a person that drives a Ford? Probably not. Never ask others to do what you cannot do.

Fire Department Cultures Have Different Values

Each fire department has its own culture by which the members must abide. This culture is created through established policies and the accepted values of the majority of fire department members.

Some cultures are fire-centric. Some value emergency management services, and a few value fitness.

If the organization values fitness, then the internal culture often values physical fitness as well. The culture is commonly driven by expectations.

Fire Service Leaders Will Need to Develop a Culture that Emphasizes Functional Physical Fitness

As a department’s members age, however, the internal culture will likely reduce its commitment to physical fitness. This area is where fire service leaders must “walk the walk” and lead the organization to maintain and increase a commitment to fitness.

Creating this change is a delicate balance, as there are many methods to become fit. Some fire service departments may prefer triathlons, and others may prefer powerlifting.

The fire service will need a balance of cardiac fitness and physical strength. For instance, a powerlifter can pick up a firefighter in distress by the air pack, tuck him under his arm and carry him out of a burning building, but that same powerlifter will be out of air in his or her air tank within minutes.

The triathlete will have much longer to utilize the limited amount of air in a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). However, he or she will lack the strength to drag a person who may be just above ideal weight away from a fire.

Neither of these scenarios are ideal. We must focus on functional fitness to meet the heavy physical demands of firefighting.

The bottom line is what a fire service organization and its members tolerate will become the norm in the fire department. If the leadership of an organization is not willing to commit to physical fitness, the rank and file won’t either.

As firefighters, we are in control of the physical fitness level of our organization. Get out to the gym and be sure that you are a model of what you want your organization to become, then hold others accountable.