Courtesy of Gloucester County Times
Woodbury, NJ

By Jessica Driscoll jdriscoll@sjnewsco.com

Editor's Note: This article is a reprint from the Gloucester County Times and is not an original EGH newsletter article. In accordance with the reprinting guidelines this newsletter had to use the article and title exactly as they appeared in the original article. EGH and the NFFF prefer the term "firefighter" as opposed to "firemen" or fireman." In this instance EGH felt the information in the article is important and outweighed the use of the term "firemen" in the title.

DEPTFORD TWP. - According to national statistics, 44 percent of all firefighter deaths are caused by heart failure a disturbing trend that the township's four volunteer battalions have decided to fight.

"We wanted to get our volunteers more physically fit," said Chuck Mancini, district safety officer for the township fire department. "These heart attacks often happen during or right after a call, and we want to prevent that as much as possible."

Mancini said the program also boosts department morale. Sign-ups were on a volunteer basis, and 36 firefighters have already committed to the "Burn Off the Pounds Challenge."

"This is the first time we're running a program like this, so it's mostly about personal goals," said Mancini. "It's an individual's decision to put the bag of potato chips down."

Many of the firefighters are taking advantage of a partnership with the Gloucester County Institute of Technology's physical fitness program to achieve their goals. The school has allowed fire department members to use the weight training room and pool free of charge for the duration of the contest.

Participants were weighed in at the start of the contest on April 7.

"Firefighters love challenges, and this is an important one," said Mancini. "Each of the four battalions will compete for eight weeks to see which team can lose the most weight. The winning battalion will win a five-foot tall trophy, and there will be individual awards as well."

According to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, anything a department can do to encourage physical fitness is tremendously important.

"Fifty-five to 65 percent of line-of-duty deaths are caused by heart attack or stroke," said Hal Bruno, chairman emeritus of the Foundation.

"And many of these are men and women in their prime who are not grossly overweight. Firefighting takes the greatest toll of any activity on the cardiovascular system."

Bruno said Harvard University recently completed a study that proved firefighters were 100 percent more likely than average people to suffer these attacks. Both the emotional and physical tolls endured by career and volunteer firefighters can contribute.

"It's an extremely strenuous job," said Bruno. "And there is usually no warning, no warm up period. These people are in full activity within 90 seconds."

Nationwide, the Foundation sponsors a firefighter safety program called "Everyone Goes Home."

It includes a series of life safety initiatives, with the goal of helping the United States Fire Administration reduce the amount of firefighter fatalities by 25 percent in five years and 50 percent in 10 years.

"These types of competitions are good stuff because they get people motivated, but a lot of it has to do with maintenance and supervision as well," said Bruno.

"We encourage departments to implement daily physical training and make equipment available in their stations."

Ultimately, Bruno said, anything that strengthens the health and safety of a department is a positive step that could make a big impact.