National Firefighter Health Week: Matters of the Heart

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Heart disease affects 80 million Americans and that includes first responders. Heart attacks are the number one cause of line-of-duty firefighter deaths. The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) is working to create awareness of health issues with their National Firefighter Health Week. FDNNTV.com's Barbara Brooks takes a look at what firefighters can do to combat those statistics in today's segment, "Matters of the Heart."

This year's theme for National Firefighter Health Week is "It takes a healthy heart, mind, and body to do what you do - Keep It Strong." The stress of emergency response creates an increased risk of heart attack. Thus, the NVFC designed its Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program. "In 2003 it was implemented to combat the leading cause of line-of-duty death, which is heart attack," according to Lillian Ricardo of the National Volunteer Fire Council.

A part of that program is the National Firefighter Health Week. It targets both volunteer and career fire and EMS personnel, promoting fitness, nutrition and health awareness.

"It's a remarkable association between cardiac death among firefighters. It's a very strong relationship, and obviously in the throes of a fire or responding to a fire, their risk goes up 30 fold. So, they're much more likely to have a heart problem once they're in the fire environment itself," according to Dr. Matthew Budoff, Program Director of Cardiology at LA BioMed.

This year, the U.S. Fire Administration joined with the NVFC to encourage firefighters and departments, both volunteer and career, to focus on health and wellness, both this week and throughout the year.

"A lot of the volunteers might come from an office job or some sort of clerical job or manager's job where they're not really doing this stuff all the time. Then all of a sudden they really do go from pretty sedentary to fully active," says Captain Kevin Klar, Fitness for Life Coordinator with Los Angeles County Fire Department. Dr. Budoff continues, "They're cooking, they're watching TV, they're relaxing in the firehouse, the bells ring and they have two minutes to be on that truck and rolling. So, their adrenalin starts pumping and that puts a big stress on the heart."

First responders also face the added stress that if they don't perform their job well, people may die. "I think there's a very clear relationship between the stress and heart disease," adds Dr. Budoff.

Los Angeles County Fire Department has a voluntary program for their firefighters called Fit For Life. All participants start with a yearly physical including a treadmill exam to check their cardiovascular health. If the firefighter needs further testing, they are sent to St. Johns Cardiovascular Research Center for a CT Scan. This will determine whether the patient has any calcified plaque in the arteries of their heart. Calcified plaque is the third stage of plaque accumulation that begins stressing the walls of the arteries. The test is scored, and if the patient has a score of less than 10, they are cleared to go back to work. If the person has a score of 10 or more, they are given a non-invasive angiogram.

"We've found about 18 of our firefighters that have had obstructive coronary obstructive disease with 80 to 90% obstruction. We've been able to work with those people, fix them basically and then get them back to work within 30 days," explains Captain Klar. "So, it's been a huge success for our people who were really scared before to participate in this program because of what it might mean, and now they're realizing that they're going to get seen, and if they find something, they're going to get it fixed, they're going to get back to work, where they want to be."

The question is, how can volunteer fire and EMS departments find ways to get this kind of help for their members? According to Lillian Ricardo, "Some things departments can do is reach out to their local community. Perhaps find a physician who is willing to provide some free screenings. Get cholesterol, blood pressure checks for their department members."

The important thing is to start a program. "It's really important, especially for the volunteers. Actually most of the cardiac risks and the deaths out there, a lot of them are volunteer fire departments," according to Captain Klar.

More information on the Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program is available from the NVFC at www.healthy-firefighter.org.

FDNNTV.com's Coverage of National Firefighter Health Week

Join FDNNTV.com each day this week to learn more about some of the physical and mental issues that firefighters face and what can be done to fight them.

National Firefighter Health Week:  Know Your Risks

National Firefighter Health Week: Keep Your Head in the Game

National Firefighter Health Week:  Focus on Fitness & Nutrition