By Jacqueline Koch
Chattanooga Times Free Press
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Chattanooga officials hope a new tobacco-free policy for fire department recruits will save the city money, but do not know how much savings will be generated by the decision.
“It’s going to reduce insurance costs,” Chattanooga Fire Department interim Chief Randy Parker said. “That’s the biggest reason we’re doing it. And for the better health of employees.”
Neither Chief Parker nor City Personnel Director Donna Kelley knew how much the city would save, nor did they immediately know or provide how much the city now spends on firefighter insurance coverage and claims.
Marie Chinery with Mayor Ron Littlefield’s Chief of Staff office said the city does not have information about the number of firefighters who use tobacco.
Under the Tennessee Heart and Lung Act, an insurer bears 100 percent of the medical costs for firefighter health problems from hypertension or heart diseases because firefighters are assumed to have incurred the disease while employed. When a firefighter smokes or uses tobacco, it’s not always possible to know if a disease occurred because of the tobacco use or because of smoke inhalation and stress on the job.
“It’s a very logical assumption, even without the numbers, because the fire department is covered 100 percent by the heart and lung bill,” Ms. Kelley said. “That’s an understood, more expensive cost” if the city bears the cost for diseases related to tobacco use, she said.
Fire department officials considered for several years changing to a tobacco-free recruits policy to meet National Fire Protection Association standards and decided last year officially to implement it, Chief Parker said.
The requirement applies only to new hires who would attend the fire academy in January and any subsequent academy, not any of the 370 current firefighters. At any given time, the fire department has between 300 and 500 applicants who are at various points of the application phase, fire and police recruitment supervisor Ernie Meyer said.
To ensure compliance, firefighters will be tested annually, probably via a Breathalyzer, but also through blood or urine tests or a mouth swab, meaning they cannot use tobacco products any time, fire department spokesman Bruce Garner said.
Chattanooga officials continue to tweak the policy but have posted the tobacco-free requirement on the city’s Web site. And they’re informing any applicant of the provision, he said.
“This way, they know upfront before they do anything that we expect (them to be) tobacco-free,” Mr. Garner said. “Wellness is pretty important for the fire department, because it’s a very physical job. You have to be in good shape for the long haul, for the length of your career.”
Since the decision, no one has called to complain or withdraw an application, Mr. Meyer said.
“A person called me and said if they quit (smoking) could they apply, and the answer is: of course,” he said. “I figured I would get a lot or at least some calls. ... But it’s pretty self-explanatory.”
The Cleveland, Tenn., Fire Department has no plans to implement a tobacco-free employees policy, but officials could consider one in the future, Chief Chuck Atchley said. City code does not allow smoking in city buildings or vehicles.
“It seems to me it would be hard to require (being tobacco-free) of new people and not require it of your incumbent people,” he said.
Nashville and Knoxville do not require firefighters or recruits to be tobacco-free, officials in those departments said.
Requiring tobacco-free firefighters is not new for some departments, said Richard Duffy, assistant to the general president with the International Association of Firefighters.
His organization stopped hiring recruits who used tobacco in 1996, in cooperation with 10 major cities and the International Association of Fire Chiefs, he said. Two states, Florida and Massachusetts, have state laws prohibiting firefighters from using tobacco, he said.
Copyright 2009 Chattanooga Publishing Company