By Ronica Shannon
It may be a common assumption that more firefighters die as a result of fires, but heart attacks are the killer of more than 50 percent of the firefighters who die every year in the line of duty.
In Richmond, the city commission has acknowledged the importance of the health and fitness of firefighters with an ordinance that passed first reading Oct. 10.
The National Fire Prevention Agency (NFPA) updates guidelines for physical fitness standards every couple of years, said Richmond Fire Chief Gerald Tatum. The last revisions came in 2002.
The new guidelines call for more on-scene medical support, a fire department physician who is in charge of administering all physicals for candidates and employees, scheduling of annual physical fitness and agility testing.
Other revisions require that all specialized tests including prostate examinations, rectal examinations, stool blood testing, pap smears, breast examinations and mammograms be done by the firefighter’s private physician, unless the fire department physician determines that there is a line of duty injury or fitness issue that may call for one of these tests. If so, the city is responsible for the cost of the procedure(s).
Paula Maionchi, a physician at the Instant Care Center on the Eastern Bypass, will serve as the fire department’s regular physician.
Providing additional on-scene medical support is another new guideline that is the responsibility of Tatum.
“When you’re on the scene of an incident, you must have medical staff there,” he said. “We have EMTs who work here and any time we have a structure fire or a rescue, we have the Madison County EMS stand by for us also.”
Another effort to protect the health of firefighters also includes fitness opportunities for Richmond’s law enforcement officers.
The City Commission has allotted $16,000 in their 2006-07 fiscal year budget to purchase equipment for the facility that is to be located at the Fire Department Training Center on Four Mile Road. The new equipment for the gym should arrive in about 10 weeks, Tatum said.
The need for the city’s own facility stemmed from several areas, one being the cost of private gym memberships for all police officers and firefighters. The other is the fact that several firefighters have been forced to take leave of absences for failing their annual physical.
The gym will be available to all firefighters and police officers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Todd Platner will be the fitness trainer for the firefighters who are required to use the facility to workout, and Shawn Moore of the Richmond Police Department will help train police officers.
“They will be able to set up a program for each person and come back in 30 to 45 days to evaluate the individual’s process,” Tatum said.
The ordinance must be passed a second time for it to be considered the law.
Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.
