Related Blog Posts on The Kitchen Table: Food for Thought about Heart Attacks
By FireRescue1 Staff
WICHITA, Kansas — Volunteer fire departments must take a more proactive approach to ensure that their firefighters are healthy, according to a new study.
Firefighters know they are at higher-than-average risk for heart attacks and most want work to reduce that risk, the study said.
But a lack of education, health insurance, and department resources is making it difficult to turn that desire into fewer cardiovascular disease-related deaths.
Researchers Patrick Scanlon, of the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and Elizabeth Ablah, from the University of Kansas School of Medicine, distributed a survey to more than 700 volunteer firefighters from Nassau and Suffolk counties, which comprise all of Long Island, NY. The survey included 19 questions about firefighters’ health habits, medical histories and demographics.
“Patrick is a volunteer firefighter and was in medical school at the time, so he sees a lot of firefighters and thinks about health,” Ablah said. “He wanted to asses their knowledge of cardiac risk factors, as well as their motivation to resolve those risks.” Scanlon’s father was also a firefighter.
Many of the firefighters surveyed had risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including obesity, smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Seventy-five percent of respondents correctly identified heart attacks as the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths, indicating an awareness of the high risk of heart attacks among firefighters.
“The most fascinating part is that firefighters were motivated to be more involved in their own health,” Ablah said. “They wanted additional knowledge, wanted to change their own behaviors and wanted to have the fire service serve as an instigator for change.”
More than half of the firefighters ‘strongly agreed,’ and 35 percent ‘somewhat agreed’ that fire departments should be more active in educating firefighters about how to resolve their risk factors for heart disease.
In addition, 90 percent of respondents said they were ‘definitely interested’ or ‘somewhat interested’ in attending educational sessions about proper diet and exercise and reducing heart attack risk.
“Future research should evaluate firefighters’ knowledge, behaviors, and intentions regarding risk factors after a lecture or intervention,” the report concluded. “It is important for the health and safety of firefighters and the communities they serve for fire district commissioners or fire chiefs to provide resources and interventions for their employees and volunteers.”
Ablah expressed optimism that fire departments and the fire service will view the survey’s results as an opportunity to take action against the threat of cardiac disease. “The demand is there, and they want to keep their firefighters alive and healthy,” she said. “It’s a phenomenal chance to make some changes.”
She also said that individuals can instigate changes that benefit their communities, from organizing group workouts or educational sessions to encouraging changes in the food cooked in the firehouse kitchen.
“They don’t have to make it, ‘This is the way it should be,’ but they can look at it as an opportunity to make some changes that will make them a healthier group,” she said.
Full Study: Self-Reported Cardiac Risks and Interest in Risk Modification Among Volunteer Firefighters (PDF)