Tactical Training Solutions for Firefighters

The necessity for well-conditioned, physically fit firefighters is not breaking news. The statistics that indicate this need are well documented, indisputable and readily available. Cardiac arrest was the leading cause of firefighter fatalities not only in 2019 but also in the years preceding. The vast majority of these deaths were entirely preventable. The lesser-known variable of the equation is that addressing such an obvious and decimating problem is easier said than done.

The Spokane Fire Department (SFD) has always prided itself on being a cutting-edge organization, implementing progressive programs, tactics, equipment and leadership. With this mindset, the SFD has set to tackling one of the more difficult aspects pertaining to the firefighting community and that is the realm of physical fitness. Due to the mortality factor facing our members today, a change is necessary and the time to be proactive in effecting change is now. The purpose of this article is to outline the changes and forward thinking within the fire service on this pressing topic.

Through an increase in awareness, compilation of statistics, and the ominous reality that firefighters keep dying of cardiac arrest, great strides have been taken in the fire service as a whole to address the need for fitness programs within the department. While the programs themselves have been met with varying levels of success, the foundation of all programs is the groundwork laid by the governing bodies of the fire service across the country to attempt to find a sustainable, attainable solution. A few of the nationally recognized initiatives are listed below.

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1583

The standard on health-related fitness programs for fire department members was published in 2000 and serves as an outline for departmental command staff regarding physical fitness. As a guideline, the contents are flexible and evolving, but the key components are:

• Assignment of a qualified health and fitness coordinator.
• Periodic fitness assessment for all members.
• An exercising and training program that is available to all members.
• Education and counseling regarding health promotion for all members.
• A process for collecting and maintaining health-related promotion for all members.

Firefighter Life Safety Initiative #6

2004 marked the initial report of the Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives Summit and subsequently the “Everyone Goes Home Program." Of the 16 initiatives, #6 identifies the need for national medical and physical fitness standards for all firefighters. Summit participants acknowledged the importance of increasing emphasis on health, wellness and fitness within the fire service and reported, “The most significant reductions in line-of-duty deaths are likely to be achieved through increased medical surveillance and physical fitness programs.”

Key issues of the initiative incorporate the following points:

• Overcome the historic fire service punitive mentality of physical fitness and wellness issues.
• Move beyond negative timed, task-based performance testing to progressive wellness improvement.
• Require a commitment by labor and management to a positive individualized fitness/wellness program.
• Develop a holistic wellness approach that includes: medical, fitness, injury/fitness/medical rehabilitation and behavioral health.

Fire Service Joint Labor/Management Wellness-Fitness Initiative

An unprecedented endeavor by the IAFF in cooperation with the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) to gather some of North America’s finest fire departments in an effort to build a stronger fire service by strengthening our foundation—the firefighter. The participating departments on the task force are:

• Austin, TX (IAFF Local 975)
• Calgary, Alberta (IAFF Local 255)
• Charlotte, NC (IAFF Local 660)
• Fairfax County, VA (IAFF Local 2068)
• Indianapolis (IAFF Local 416)
• Los Angeles County (IAFF Local 1014)
• Metro Dade County, FL (IAFF Local 1403)
• FDNY (IAFF Local 94/854)
• Phoenix (IAFF Local 493)
• Seattle (IAFF Local 27)

Fire Service Health and Nutrition Study

Finally, and most compelling, is a study conducted at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland called the PHLAME (Promoting Healthy Lifestyles: Alternative Models’ Effects) Study. A group of 687 firefighters from five different departments participated in the PHLAME program, were randomized by station, and formed into three different intervention groups, one of which was a team-based educational intervention focusing on wellness and fitness. A comparison was done of the participants from these intervention groups with an equal number of control group firefighters in the non-PHLAME setting. The results are these:

• A statistically significant reduction in self-reported days off due to injuries in the intervention groups to the control groups of 35%.
• Cost of injury claims were reduced by over 57%
• “Reportable” injuries were reduced by 36%.

The study focused on improved eating and exercise habits among firefighters and studied intervention sessions that taught benefits of healthy diet, regular exercise, and sought to improve social norms and social support from co-workers.

Key issues of the study emphasized the following points:

• Increased knowledge of the benefits of fruit and vegetable intake.
• Increased knowledge of proper and frequent exercise.
• Creating an atmosphere of accountability in monitoring daily food intake and exercise regiments.
• Required commitment by the individuals to monitor diet, exercise, sleep, and recovery tactics.
• Enhanced camaraderie within the station teams and strengthened relationships between the members.

Additionally, having the benefit of building a culture through the study, knowledge was passed through the ranks and from station to station positively affecting members who had not even participated in the study. The diffusion that took place evolved into a “tipping point." A tipping point describes a situation in which an incremental change past a threshold produces a much larger effect. The PHLAME longitudinal findings indicate that involving two-thirds of employees in effective health promotion programs may have surpassed a tipping point in achieving and maintaining positive health behaviors for all workers.

Through research conducted by the Spokane Fire Department of other departments across the nation, the decision was made to form a partnership with local trainers to build an entirely new fitness program founded on the most recent exercise science and techniques. This provided the needed personal interaction to ensure that training was performed correctly and that the right program was developed for the firefighter based on their current level of fitness, injury patterns, and fitness goals with core strength and functional movement as the nucleus.

Several departments, some from large cities, demonstrated that providing equipment and facilities intended for physical training is simply not enough. In any department, those that want to work out and are dedicated to it are already doing it and will always find a way. For others, it’s not that simple. Some simply do not have an extensive background in physical fitness. Others may have been accomplished athletes in their pre-department life, but their training goals and needs may have since changed a great deal. Bodies change with age and what was important five, 10 or 20 years ago is probably not what is important now or relevant to the current mission. Simply, a well-intended member may walk into a nice facility with good equipment and not have any idea how to use it properly to get the most out of a training session or, most important, not get injured doing it.

While the concept of “peer fitness” is popular, SFD decided that a new delivery model was in order. It seemed unfair to expect its members, professional firefighters by nature, to undertake the magnitude of developing an individual, custom-made program for, potentially, the entire fire department. Facilitators theorized that if the program was going to be executed correctly, it needed to be executed by those who made it their business to do so on a professional level. In the long term, firefighters would receive the highest level of training, further reduce the possibility of injury while performing training, and ultimately meet or exceed the statistics of larger studies while saving the City Of Spokane far more money (by a large percentage) than the investment made on the program itself.

In January 2019, after an extensive recruitment and bidding process, a fitness partner was found to execute the department’s new fitness mission, provide the needed oversight to fulfill its goals, and promote the new vision and design. Through collaboration between the two, a six-month pilot program consisting of 60 Spokane firefighters was developed and implemented. The program components consisted of functional movement screening, fitness test, body weight recordings, resting and recovery heart rates, and Wingate test. The Wingate test is an anaerobic exercise test that is performed on a stationary bicycle that measures peak anaerobic power and anaerobic capacity. This test has been researched to be the most accurate and valid form of testing for anaerobic capacity and power in the sports performance and sports specialty world.

These tests then gave the trainers the ability to make customized workouts for each participating individual based on test results, current injury patterns, and participant fitness goals. Each participant has a workout built and readily available in order to workout each day either with the controlled group at the SFD training center or in their station via an app controlled by the trainers.

With the help of Eastern Washington University Exercise Science students, extensive data was compiled on each participant. This data, listed in bullet points below, has a brief description of the results and how those results were attained. Throughout the six-month pilot program, the trainers tested the athletes at the beginning of the program, re-tested the participants every two months, and then one final time at the end of the six months. Video interviews and written testimonials were collected by many of the participants at the conclusion of the program explaining how they were affected personally and professionally.

• Bodyweight: The overall bodyweight for the pilot program group showed a 6-lb. loss over the course of six months, the most significant loss coming in the second and third testing dates. As the goals of the strength training and correct functional movement are not necessarily commensurate to weight loss, to see a 6-lb. loss among a 60-person group average is significant. This can be attributed to circuit and high-interval training days that were implemented throughout the program.
• Fitness Test: The test is a circuit of seven exercises where the participant completed as many rounds as possible within five minutes. This showed notable results, and as a group the participants completed an entire full round of seven exercises during the tests. This is a 67% increase from Test 1 to Test 4. This demonstrates that increased strength, stamina, endurance and speed were accrued over the course of the program.
• Resting Heart Rate: Participants' resting heart rates dropped two beats per minute over the course of the six months. This drop placed the participants into the “above average” category on the national chart for resting heart rate.
• Recovery Heart Rate: Participants had an average drop of three beats per minute from minute 1 to 2, an average drop of six beats per minute from minutes 2 to 3. This shows the participants are more conditioned, in shape, and have a better ability to recover after strenuous work.
• Wingate Peak Power: This data shows the peak power expressed during the 30-second test. There was an increase of 13.7% from Testing Day 1 to Testing Day 4. This is a significant increase and shows the participants, as a group, made substantial progress over a relatively short period of time.
• Wingate Average Power: This data shows a sustained power output throughout the 30-second test. There was a 9% increase from Test 1 to Test 4, and this also is a significant increase. It shows the participants' ability to keep a level of power and output of strength and stamina over a period of time.

Since completing the six-month pilot program and attaining the results they did, the City of Spokane, Spokane Fire Department, and Gradoville Active Training have agreed upon a 16-month fitness program. The program is open to all members of the Spokane Fire Department, including all ranks, all divisions, maintenance, and the county dispatch center. While the structure of physical movements centers on firefighters, the department believes that a culture of inclusivity is as beneficial to the department as engaging in physical exercise is to its members.

Over the next year, the trainer’s plan moving forward is to continue to enhance workouts to meet member needs regardless of where they may be along their fitness journey. Additionally, emphasis will be placed on research into processes and tactics to aid in improving diet, sleep habits and overall recovery. The trainers have partnered with a local registered dietician/nutritionist to help with collaboration of healthy recipes, food selection, and how to cook with a healthy mindset within the stations. The trainers have also begun working and exploring a device that will help track and monitor recovery efforts with members.

Increased attention has also been focused on the aspect of recovery. Firefighters, by nature, are typically proactive and aggressive. Coupled with the dynamics that a 24-hour shift schedule has to offer, recovery is frequently an afterthought. In short, they’re much better at working out, fighting fires and rendering aid than they are at the time needed to recover from all of it. The impact of this is far-reaching and profound. From the fitness standpoint, the work that goes into gaining strength and proper functional movement must not be lost to poor recovery.

These are longer-term goals centering on education of sleep hygiene, alcohol consumption, and mental centering which will ultimately translate to decreasing on-the-job injuries, reduce time off in the event of injury and decrease the instances of a cardiac event on the fireground.

We must make every effort to ensure that firefighters go on to enjoy many years of retirement after ending their active careers.