By Jessica A. York
The Vallejo Times Herald
VALLEJO, Calif. — It all began with a Sears & Roebuck plastic weight set and an exercise bike, beneath a haze of cigarette smoke.
Vallejo Fire Captain Dan Sarna remembered the early days of his department’s Wellness Program, when “big, burly, eat-a-lot type of personnel” was the norm for his peers, and being a non-smoker was a rarity.
Now, some 20 years later, the fire department has developed a three-pronged program that includes preventative health screening, healthy eating and exercise, and individualized programs designed to reduce each firefighter’s weaknesses. And the smokers are scarce.
Sarna, 53, attributed his quick and complete return to the department after a major knee surgery in recent years to the good shape he was in because of the wellness program.
“The age I am, and just going through bilateral knee surgery, that’s a pretty big reconstruction, I don’t know (that) if I hadn’t followed the program, if I would have done as well as I did to come back to full duty with no restrictions,” Sarna said.
Captain Ray Jackson, who coordinates the program, recently integrated a “functional movement system” component, which provides personalized evaluations for each firefighter.
“I think this is something for the future,” Jackson said last week. “It makes sense, and it’s money well spent. ... If people just arbitrarily work out, I would say it’s better than nothing. (But) the only problem with that (is) people get hurt working out if they don’t know what they’re doing. So they’ve got to have the education piece.
“We go over and above because it pays big dividends,” Jackson added.
Each fire department has a gym with various pieces of equipment, an optional aspect of the program — and something Jackson estimates that the vast majority of firefighters utilize. Annual medical screenings, containing some federally required testing, are also a program foundation.
Both Jackson and Sarna recognized that the firefighters’ intense program may not be for all city employees, but could stand as an example as others are forged.
“You’re talking to a guy who thinks that everybody could do this type of thing every day,” said Jackson, who was a competitive body builder in his earlier years and has studied fitness for 30 years. “I think everyone benefits from a wellness plan of their own.”
Vallejo City Council approved the League of California Cities’ Healthy Eating and Active Living Cities Campaign in July, including a laundry list of projects the city aims to undertake. Though the long list of potential programming aimed at reducing obesity and health issues hinges on available funding, the proclamation was designed to support any such future efforts.
One item envisioned offering city employees healthier eating options in their vending machines and health incentives for healthy eating and physical activity. Councilwoman Marti Brown, who pushed for the ordinance, said Mayor Osby Davis had championed the employee-specific goals. Brown said the program could include a break room with exercise equipment and organized micro-exercise activities for employee “recesses.”
Interim Fire Chief Paige Meyer agreed on the importance of his department’s program to both his employees’ health, and cost savings for the city.
Through the program’s health screenings, “We’ve caught cancers, we’ve caught life-threatening diseases prior to people being in a (serious) position,” Meyer said.
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