WASHINGTON — The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation is meeting in Washington to spread the word and change old habits for firefighters to save themselves from cardiovascular disease.
WUSA9 reported that about 66 percent of firefighter deaths in the line of duty are from heart attacks, making it the number one cause of deaths for firefighters.
The Heart to Heart strategy is to reduce cardiac disease and death in the fire service. The group is suggesting more healthy food choices in firehouses and adding exercise equipment to use during downtime.
Michael Hamrock, a former firefighter-turned-physician, said a cultural change is needed in most firehouses.
“It’s my opinion that a lot of these diseases are preventable if firefighters took care of themselves and we had a fitness program, get very aggressive physicals,” Hamrock said.
Denise Smith, a college professor who has studied autopsies of firefighters killed by heart attacks, said 84 percent of them had evidence of an enlarged heart.