Firefighter “Industrial” Athletes

By: John Schmidt CFO Division Chief – Health, Safety, and Wellness, Pasco County Fire Rescue

Have you heard anyone call firefighters athletes? I have! I have used the term “Industrial Athletes” to describe the men and women in the fire service. The definition of “industrial” is an adjective “relating to or characterized by industry.” I once read a description of an athlete as “a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina.” I think both definitions describe the men and women of the fire service. The fire service is an industry whose sole purpose is to protect and care for its citizens. I would not call what we do every day a sport or game, but it certainly requires physical strength, agility, and stamina to do what we do!

Recently, I had a conversation where the topic was about how professional sports teams have the best trainers and doctors to get athletes back on the field as soon as possible. The team owners do not want their players on IR (Injured Reserve.) I call that “soft cost,” you are paying a salary, yet you are not benefitting from the athletes’ knowledge, skills, and abilities when injured and on the IR.

Professional team owners employ Doctors, Trainers, Weight coaches, Nutritionists, and mental coaches to help prepare their athletes to be at the top of their game and stay healthy. They even have staff members to support the athletes in navigating newfound fame and fortune! Shouldn’t we do that for our “Industrial Athletes?”

Staying Healthy

Keeping our staff healthy is a tremendous responsibility. We (the fire service) often talk about being fiscally responsible to the citizens. We don’t want to waste or perceive to waste taxpayer dollars, especially when we ask for more money from the politicians. Having members on IR, or as we call it, “Light Duty,” could be perceived as wasting taxpayer dollars; I do. Many of the injuries or illnesses are preventable. I do not want to discuss the politics of this concern but rather attack the issue from a different perspective. One that is already in place and is available yet is being fought at all levels. Administration due to cost, firefighters due to the perception admin will “use it against them.”

Our members are our most important and valuable asset. In today’s world and the struggles of every department with recruitment and retention, this was never truer. Every member who walks through our doors should know we are invested in them. They need to know we care about them and want to help them have a fulfilled life in their home life and career now and in the future so they can enjoy a long retirement.

In John Maxwell’s book “5 Levels of Leadership,” one of the chapters discusses Coaches Lombardi and Wooden, who talk about not taking anything for granted for their teams and paying attention to the details. The story goes Coach Lombardi opened up every season with a speech to his players that started with “This is football,” and Coach Wooden and staff showed the players how to put on socks so they would reduce or eliminate injuries. I find this profound. Attention to detail, at the same time, laying out expectations.

Do we do that in the fire service for our members? Some will say yes, and I agree to a certain extent. We tend to be very good about identifying expectations for station life, running calls, etc. But do we lay this out for all other areas of their career and life?

As any good team owner, we require our new members to go through a thorough physical before they join the team. We want to ensure they join us healthy and don’t bring additional liability. We want to confirm they are strong and physically fit. Is it strictly an NFPA 1582 physical, or is it more? Do you include ultrasound? What type of blood work do you order? Do you require annual physicals? What are you looking for in the yearly physical? What do your members think you are looking for? I believe in annual physicals to screen for the “bad stuff,” like cancer or cardiac concerns. If I invest in my members (once I’ve hired you, I am committed to you), I want to ensure their careers are long, healthy, and prosperous.

As a Chief Officer, I am very concerned about our member’s life outside the department. I believe if the men and women of our organization have a fulfilling life outside the department, they will bring their best while on duty. If I invest efforts to confirm their time away from the job is rewarding, I believe they come back refreshed and convicted to do an excellent job for the department. 

The success of the program is built on trust. The Health Care Provider (HCP) will maintain complete and total confidentiality for the health records of each member. However, the member needs to follow the recommendations of the HCP if a potential health issue is discovered during the physical. The member is often still considered “Fit for Duty,” but that does not mean the member should ignore a potential problem. Another topic to discuss at another time is educating the Primary Care Providers (PCP) of our members when they schedule an appointment due to a concern discovered during the Department physical. We have found most PCP do not entirely understand the risks and exposures for firefighters. We are addressing this problem by planning a seminar to bring in our local PCP and provide them with valuable information for one demographic of their practice.

Another important topic to discuss is Mental Health. Do we start the discussion in the recruit class and repeat the message often during their career? Do we discuss how to access CISM or the Peer Support Team? Do we tell them it is OK to discuss issues if they work a bad call? Do we tell them they WILL have a bad call or two during their career? Do they know suicide is a Public Safety and fire service concern? I am afraid we discuss this once or twice during the onboarding period, whatever that is for your agency, never to be brought up again. Fortunately, more opportunities for educating our members about mental health and how to preserve it are available. A significant part of that campaign promotes that it is “OK to need to talk.” We need to move away from the stereotype that if you talk about what is bothering you, that makes you weak. Many Departments embrace the value of providing access to help other than EAP for its members.

Physical fitness is essential. When watching your favorite sports team, how often do the announcers mention the athletes’ fitness during pre-season or early games? In some cases, it is evident the athlete did not put in the “time” during the off-season, yet in others, they undeniably did! The difference with our athletes is that there isn’t an off-season! Do we encourage the athletes to stay fit, or do we restrict them? Fortunately, the IAFF and IAFC have worked together to promote and support fitness programs that benefit our athletes. Programs are designed to encourage members to participate and assist members who do not meet the minimum requirements to make changes to meet the minimum standards. We should not discourage fitness activities but rather work collectively to improve and enhance programs that our athletes will engage in.

Our athletes make good money, and (T)the team owners – who are our citizens, pay a lot for our athletes. We don’t want to see them injured, but when they are, we need to help them recover and get them back into the game. Have an intentional program promoting the “Industrial Athletes” health and fitness.

Our favorite professional sports teams are always prepared to handle health, equipment, and any unexpected issues during the game. We need to do the same for our Industrial Athletes. That is to invest in the best equipment to protect them. After all, we are investing in our athletes, so we need to protect our investment. 

We know the playing field exposes our athletes to harmful particulates and potential game-ending stuff! We need to provide systems, equipment, and processes to minimize the risks for our athletes. On-scene decontamination is becoming the industry standard “Best Practice.” a simple bucket with a garden hose, spray nozzle, scrub brush, and soap are all needed supplies and relatively inexpensive; this is called Preliminary Exposure Reduction (PER) or what I like to call Personal-Preliminary Exposure Reduction (P-PER)! As in Professional Sports, some teams can provide a variation of the on-scene decontamination process. Some examples of these variations range from going through P-PER on-scene, then returning to the station to exchange PPE with a spare set, and then the firefighter washing PPE in an in-house extractor; some will go through PER and then having spare PPE delivered to the station and a quarter-master or Independent Service Provider (ISP) will wash the PPE. Like my Department, a response vehicle will provide clean PPE to the scene and exchange contaminated PPE with clean PPE while on-scene. All processes discussed are intended to reduce cross-contamination from the hazardous scene to the apparatus and station. 

But the most crucial part of this program is that our athletes use the process every time they come off the field. As I mentioned earlier about John Wooden teaching his athletes how to put on socks and shoes to prevent injury, we need to do that with our athletes. 

When I watch Professional Soccer, Football, or baseball, I am always amazed at how the athletes immediately go to the trainers when something does not “feel” right. This allows them to receive aggressive treatment to get past the injury, off IR, and back on the field. Firefighters do not do that; we don’t share, we don’t get help, and we don’t want to be taken out of the game. Maybe we need to educate these Industrial Athletes better on how important it is to have them at the top of their game 100% of the time! 

Is on-scene Rehabilitation a priority? It should be! Top-flight athletes have very defined routines after each workout and game. This always includes Rehabilitation and recovery. The fire service should offer the same after each working incident. Providing fluids and, in some cases, nutrition is vital to begin healing our members after a working incident. 

Providing rehab at a working incident needs planning. Rehabilitation must be set up in a clean area. This includes separating contaminated PPE from the rehab area and having a cleaning station, so your members do not cross-contaminate the rehab area. 

Each of the programs discussed here is great independently. However, together it is better! They all complement each other. The more health and safety seminars I attend, the more I hear how each topic discussed here must work together to protect our athletes. You may not have the resources to have all programs discussed. Use your local network and share the responsibilities and programs. This is an industry problem, not an individual department problem! Set up programs regionally.

Put the health and safety of your athletes at the top of your “to-do” list and your budget. You will be investing in your Department’s greatest asset, its members. Please encourage your athletes to strike a good work/life balance. Offer seminars that will educate your members about how to do that. They will learn the importance of sleep, good nutrition, adding fitness to their daily routine, and mental wellness. If you invest in your men and women, sons and daughters, aunts and uncles, they will reciprocate by being the best on the job!

Most importantly, these programs can’t be a “check” in-the-box type program. But rather ones that involve all team members, from the newest recruit to the Fire Chief! We need to start each season laying out for our new teammates and reminding our returning athletes what game we are playing and how we can survive the season without injuries. It may seem silly, but these two leaders (Vince Lombardi and John Wooden) were successful! Let’s take a lesson from them.

Photo by Stephen Baer