#FFHI2015 - FireFighter Health Initiative of 2015

I'm sick and I'm sick and tired of being sick. No really, I am actually sick with a bad URI, that's on the verse of bronchitis. But I'm sicker even than that. Though I'm on the mend, I awoke this morning to find two #LODD notices in my mailbox, both for basically "middle-aged" men and both due to preventable health issues. And those two obits come on the heal of a third, that occurred over the weekend, when another brave FF passed, after nearly a week in the hospital following his collapse on the scene of a run. Again, due to preventable health issues. Well, we're tired of reading those #LODD notices and their subsequent obituaries; about the families left behind and hundreds, if not thousands who show up at their funerals. 

Listen, we all know and understand that this is a big, dangerous "game" that we play. It's always the same, us (Humans) versus him (The Red Devil). And because we play this game, we know the Red doesn't always play by the rules, so it is up to us to do so. And we do, day after day, we do. However, we have a good idea as to how this game is played, and thank Heaven above, the winning percentage has gained year after year in recent time. That's right. Fewer of us have lost the game and therefore, fireground fatalities are being reduced most years. Although a great many of us were reluctant to accept all the
"modern" safety codes and requirements issued by the #NFPA, more and more do and thus the lessening of the losses.

But if you ask me, we're missing the boat. We are so gung-ho to get on our apparatus when those tones sound off in the station or on our pagers, that we have lost sight of the most important factor: What happens if we don't take care of ourselves well enough to allow us to even stay on the job? It appears that we're nearly at 60% of the #LODD for 2015 have been health related. And sadly, our own colleagues are the ones to respond to those terrifying calls, at our home, at the firehouse, on the fireground, etc. It's too much....IT'S TOO GODDAM MUCH!! AND WE HAVE TO MAKE A CHANGE!!

With that, we creating a hashtag, #FFHI2015 - The FireFighter Health Initiative 2015. THIS IS WHERE WE WILL DRAW A LINE IN THE SAND!! 

We're asking you...no, we're begging you to join us today. Make this hashtag #FFHI2015 part of your life. If you are a Chief officer reading this, this applies double for you. Why? Because this both applies to you as a firefighter and applies to you as a leader of your department to see to it that the #FFHI2015 is implemented in your department. If your a line officer, you're in the same boat as are the chiefs, you have to be willing to participate yourself and motivate your front-line members to do the same. And if you're an engineer, truckee, nozzle-jockey, or whatever, you owe both to your family and the community that you protect, to protect yourself.

No matter what your role is in firefighting, do you not owe it to your family, your friends, your co-workers to do the best job that you can? Ask yourself this: Is there anything you wouldn't do to? Would you walk into a fully involved buiding without full PPE? If you don't start taking care of yourself and soon, you might just as well! 

Are you afraid? Are you afraid that if you have to undergo a physical, it may disqualify you from active duty? Well, is that it? Tough to think about, isn't it. How would you care for your family, the house, etc.? That is a tough question. But here's one that even tougher...if you don't start taking care of yourself now, who will when you're dead and buried?

Look around you. See all your friends from work. See all your family. Do you think they'll think you any less of a person because you decided it's time to lose a few pounds and work out a bit?

OK, I've been able to vent this horrid feeling in me since this morning. But I will tell you this, we at Dalmatian Productions, Inc. believe in this issue so strongly that it will be worked into the long-term story line of our new TV show, "Cause & Origin(c)"

Now #StaySafe and Let's Make Sure #EveryOneGoesHome

Steve, Rich, Tom & Jesse

Progress....Follow by the Results From Hitting a Brick Wall

We had a very productive week. After attending to my religious observances, one of my partners, Tom, joined me at a meeting with the Greater Philadelphia Office for Film & Television (www.film.org). We met with the Executive Director Sharon Pinkenson and her Production Coordinator, Erin Jackson Wagner. They were very cordial and welcoming and are looking forward to the production ramping up. They also are very helpful as they coordinate all the meetings with the necessary departments from the city and the various departments we will be working with. They know their stuff and are very, very good at it! As matter of fact, we closed the meeting my asking for some suggestions for the location scouting we were going to do the next day, and after we explained what we were looking for, they both chipped in with numerous suggestions.

The next day, Tom and I headed out bright and early to visit some parts of the city. Philly is a good-sized city so we decided to find the area that would be most appropriate to the three different active fire scenes that will have to be shot. Reviewing my notes, I have nearly 20 specific areas to consider, but there is one that really stood out. The Film Office will also help us in searching the records for the properties to see which ones might be available for use. We are very lucky to be working with such professionals and I'm sure their guidance will be a major asset to our efforts.

Now, we must concentrate on the work that needs to be done to get ready for the launch of our crowdfunding effort to raise the necessary funds for the shoot. The first thing we have to do is create what is referred to as a "pitch reel" or a "sizzle reel." It is a short video in which we explain why we're making this effort to shoot our pilot episode. We have no more than two minutes to convince a viewer to support our efforts financially. However, don't think that that is the only way for you to help. You can also assist us by telling your friends and family to follow us on Twitter (@DalmatProd). Additionally, if you or someone you know is affiliated with a company that works with the fire-rescue service in any manner, let them know about our efforts. We will be looking for corporate sponsorship in return for promotional consideration in the show. 
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Those of you who have been reading our blog regularly know that one of our major concerns and causes is firefighter health and wellness. Sadly, just this week, we lost a 50 year old, battalion chief from South Carolina to a cardiac episode.

A couple of weeks ago, I told you about my neighbor, a 17-year veteran of the fire service and four more with EMS. He was scheduled for a knee replacement and was sent for his pre-op evaluation. During the EKG, the doctor saw an irregularity and told him he had to get his butt over to the office of two "interventional" cardiologists. He was scheduled for a full thalium stress test. The results that showed up were so critical that they stopped the test and had him admitted right away. When all the tests were done, he found out his capacity was at 35%, he had a thickening of atrial wall, had suffered a silent MI and needed a stent immediately. He also found out that he had to put in his disability retirement papers.

Now I don't care who you are. When you are passionate about the job you do and you love to do that job, getting this kind of news is like running into a brick wall. And that is the way it hit him.

I had the chance to chat with him a short while this morning. He's begun the disability paperwork. He's following the doctors' orders, taking his meds and most of all, working hard to lose weight. But he told me that a few weeks ago, he found himself in that "dark place." Some of us know of what he speaks and some of us don't. But we'll just call it a bad depression. Here he was, going great, loving his job at a very busy station, with 17 years under his belt and looking forward to those last three to retire under the Florida state plan. Instead, his entire world collapsed around him. 

The same thing happened to me twenty-three years ago, when I finally had a good job paying me very well and two years into it, I had a backache. Next thing I know, I have two herniated disks, multiple surgeries and am diagnosed with "failed-back syndrome." I was disabled. Once I got past all the surgeries, injections, etc., and I was back home all alone, with my kids in school and my wife already working three jobs, I felt like the biggest loser in the world. True, I had a private disability policy that covered me, however it didn't pay anything near what I had been making before I got hurt. And the worst part was that by now, the doctors concluded that my back was probably damaged when I partially fell through the floor of a burning house during a training program by the State of North Carolina. But it was only a presumption. No way ti prove it, though I did cause me to blow one knee out and that was covered. 

As my neighbor was explaining this to me, I interrupted him for a moment and said, "I know you absolutely hate having to put in your papers, but I'm damned glad you are still here to put them in."

So, what about you? Are you going to make it to retirement?  No one can make any guaranties, but we can do all we can to remain or get ourselves healthy. Please....for your family, for your friends, for yourself, embrace the new Firefighter Health Initiative. 

Thanks for stopping by.....Stay Safe

What About Now?

All too often as we glide through life, we hear about this unfortunate circumstance or that one and quite quickly, it disappears from our thoughts. Why? Usually it is due to the fact that whatever it was, had no bearing on the observer. So why bother, right? Wrong!

For our regular readers and followers on Twitter know, we take the concept of firefighter health very, very seriously. It's a subject that were are very passionate about. Why? That's a valid question and it's also a tough one to answer. 

Your author has been disabled since 1992 when I work up one morning with, what I thought was a run-of-the-mill backache. After seeing several doctors, I finally had an MRI and found out that I had a herniated disc at L4-L5. The question of how was more difficult to answer. I had been out of active service with a fire department since 1985. I was in a relatively sedentary job and was not required to move or life heavy objects. Today, 23 years later and after five back surgeries, too many injections to count and having a medication pump surgically implanted, the consensus of my doctors is that the underlying injury occurred in June 1978 when one leg fell through the floor of a house being used for fire training. At the time of that fall, I blew out my left knee, but I had no idea about my back. However, that was an on-the-fireground accident that could happen to anyone. So, no - my passion does not come from that occurrence. 

Even though I have been out of the fire service since 1985, it has and always will, have a role in my life. And I read Firehouse Magazine every month.And each month, the first column I read is the list of LODD's. A recent report regarding the LODD's in 2014 indicates that nearly fifty-percent (50%) of firefighter LODD's are caused my preventable health conditions. PREVENTABLE!!! No, I did not know any of these firefighters in any way, nor did I know any active firefighter with serious health risks...until this past week.

One of my neighbors is a career firefighter for a department about an hour north of where we live. He's a real nice guy, loves what he does and was working to put his "20" in, with just a couple of more years to go. However, my friend, whom we'll refer to as "Tom," is a big man, both height-wise and weight-wise. So each time I'd see him outside and wave or stop in to chat for a few, I never said a word to him, but inside, my guts were churning. Before me stands a guy who loves what he does, is good at it, but not taking care of himself with the same passion he uses to fight fire.

Two weeks ago I got a cal from his wife to come over to help them with a computer problem. I saw Tom's car in the driveway and assumed he was on an off-day. When I got inside, he's walking all bent over and I asked what happened. He said he threw his back out on a call a few days before, but he wasn't that concerned as the next Monday, he was going to have knee replacement surgery. I fixed the computer, wished them both good luck and told him I'd check in on Monday night or Tuesday morning to see how the surgery went. 

Early Tuesday morning, I get a call from his wife and I asked her how the surgery went. She said, "It didn't!" She then explained to me that when he went for his pre-op clearance, the doctor observing his EKG saw traces he was not happy with and scheduled him to undergo a supervised stress test that Monday (the day before her phone call) with a pair of cardiologists. Tom was upset, but more about missing the knee surgery than anything else.

He underwent the stress test and suddenly, the doctors told him to stop. They sat him down and helped him through the recovery phase. The doctor came over to him and asked, "Tom you're a firefighter, aren't you?"
"Yes, sir," he answered with the pride he had in his work.
"Not anymore, you're not!" the doctor said. "You're firefighting days are over."

Stunned by the news, Tom asked for an explanation. The doctor told him that his cardiac output was in the mid-30% range, where normal for someone his age should be in the 60's. There was evidence of ischemic damage, most likely caused by a silent MI. Finally, they were concerned about the condition of part of the septum.

That was that. Of course, as I said to his wife, the good thing is that these conditions were caught in advance of a non-survivable incident. He had an angiogram on Tuesday and came through it well. Moreover, he is beginning a course of medication and lifestyle change to get him healthy again. No doubt, it's going to be a long, slow road. None of us gain a great deal of weight overnight and we are not going to lose it that way either.

So, when's a good time for YOU to take stock of your personal medication condition?
WHAT ABOUT NOW?
  

Are We Taking Two Steps Forward and One Step Back?

Have you ever thought about the meaning of the words in the title of today's post? No? Well, try it. Pick two points in your home, in the firehouse, anywhere you choose. Now, walk with your regular gait and time how long it takes to travel from point A to point B. Easy, right? Now, do it again, but for every two steps forward, take one step backward, and time your journey again. Not so easy, eh? What was the difference in your times? Now, imagine living through your entire day, all your tasks, all your errands doing the same thing. For every two steps forward, you must take one step back!

The August 2015 edition of Firehouse^® Magazine notes that seven firefighters died with the classification of LODD. Each and every one of these deaths was classified as an LODD. Not one was a fireground or apparatus/vehicular occurrence. The magazine also has an article about the NFPA’s latest report of LODD’s from 2014. All together, we lost sixty-four brothers in 2014. This made 2014 the third year in the last four where LODD’s were below sixty-five and it was a significant reductions from 2013 where we lost ninety-seven firefighters.

As good as that news is the problem lies in the fact that over half of the deaths in 2014 were caused by sudden cardiac/health events. This was the highest number of health-related LODD’s since 2008.

We have been on our Twitter account (@DalmatProd) for approximately six months now. And we have made firefighter health one of our top priority topics that we look for and write about. As a matter of fact, we are so concerned about this that the subject will play an important role in the television program that we are currently working to sell in Hollywood. Moreover, if you have read this blog before, you know how important it is to us and how often we write about it.

The question remains if we are doing enough to prevent these types of LODD’s. I have no doubt that each and every industry magazine addresses this issue from time to time. Many departments have taken the issue to heart (pardon the pun) and developed excellent fitness programs for their firefighters, both current and future. However, many of those departments are larger, urban and suburban companies that may have a fitness line item in their budget or perhaps, they applied for and received a SAFER grant specifically for this purpose.

Yet two key issues remain. The first is the difficulty in promoting this health initiative in smaller, more rural departments, most of them being volunteer departments. As it is, they are having a difficult enough time just recruiting and retaining volunteers. Now, we push this health initiative on them and they back off because they simply do not have the resources to do so.

The second issue is how do we “encourage” the firefighters, mostly on-call and volunteers, who have been members of their departments for several years or longer and over the course of time have gained significant weight or developed other health issues that could lead to a morbidity level? And what about officers and command staff, who sometimes feel that since they are not performing any physical exertion at calls, their health is not of concern and they should not have to abide by a department’s health standards.

The issue of firefighter health is well publicized; there is no doubt about that. And we have some of the best leaders in this country working their tails off to bring this message to the masses. So, the question remains how we raise the level of attention of our target audience?

As I thought about this very question, the proverbial light bulb went off. How bright it is, well, that’s for you to decide. Every fire department in this country is well aware of the NFPA, its purpose, its mandates, etc. While we all realize that some departments are financially unable to employ each NFPA mandate, they do try to do their best. Why? Because they know in their hearts and minds that the NFPA is working to keep firefighters as safe as possible. Whether it is the semaphores on apparatus, PPE, standards for SCBA, etc. they are looking out for the safety of every one of us and the citizens we protect.

What if we can find a way to create a union of the NFPA and either an existing organization or a new one, even a new sub-department of NFPA to carry this health message to the boots on the ground, so that they see it as the same way the majority see the other safety mandates from the NFPA. Perhaps if we can create a Committee of Firefighter Health & Wellness as an offshoot of the NFPA, our messages will stop falling on deaf ears. Or, at the least, find a larger audience.

However, I sincerely believe that this must come from us, the firefighters, current and former, the departments and our own organizations. I do not want to see governmental bureaucracy involved in this endeavor. We have the experience, we have the knowledge and we have the influence that we can put to work to save our lives.

The goal is simple: let’s give the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation the least amount of work to do. Let’s do our best to live by our motto: #EveryOneGoesHome.