Florida Firefighters Lower Health Risks Through Weight Loss Program

By Todd J. Leduc and Sara A. Jahnke

Jobs in the fire and emergency services are demanding both physically and mentally. There is wide agreement that these personnel need to have high levels of wellness and fitness so they are ready to respond at a moment's notice to the wide range of fire, rescue, and emergency medical calls that transpire daily. Unfortunately, evidence suggests the fire service is plagued with high rates of overweight and obesity,1-6 low fitness,3,7,8 metabolic syndrome,7,9(p200) poor cholesterol profiles, 7,9,10 and high rates of cancer.11,12 Evidence also suggests that a number of work-related risk factors associated with fire and emergency services contribute to and increase the risk of poor health including the physiologic strain of firefighting, exposure to particulate matter and airborne toxins, extreme heat, dehydration, shift work, noise, and psychological stress.13 Together, these factors have led to cardiovascular events being the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths (LODDs) among United States firefighters annually.14 Firefighters also experience higher than normal rates of several forms of cancer,11,12 likely due to exposures. In addition, firefighters experience more than 70,000 injuries annually.15 As research has begun to explore the impact firefighting has on personnel, increasing attention is being paid to firefighter health.

The leading cause of LODDs among firefighters is cardiovascular events, and for every LODD caused by cardiovascular disease (CVD), there are an additional 17 nonfatal cardiac events that occur on duty.15 CVD-related LODDs are higher among firefighters than on-the-job deaths of similar groups such as police (22%) and other emergency medical service firefighters (11%) or for occupational groups as a whole (15%).14 Firefighters face several risk factors that put them at increased risk for heart attack and stroke-some are related to the tasks of firefighting and the challenges of working on 24-hour shifts while others are personal risk factors. Many personal risk factors are influenced by work-related tasks and the firehouse environment.