#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

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words & A Big "Thank You!"

First, I must thank my youngest daughter for a wonderful surprise. We were visiting her in NYC and we went out to lunch. She had wanted me to attend a show, but there was nothing that really called out to me. So, she, her boyfriend and my wife were going to the show after lunch and I was headed back to her apartment via a NYC cab.

After we finished lunch, we started walking so she could show us a couple of sites and, I presumed, to grab my cab. But we kept on walking, crossing this block and that avenue.Finally, she said, "We're here!" I looked around and found myself in front of the FDNY Store! That was the real reason why she shlepped me along. She wanted me to see the store. It was like taking your kid to a Toys 'R Us! So, thank you, my sweet Miryam for helping your Dad enjoy his visit even more!

As we were traveling this past week, I was able to catch snippets of news here and there. Several of the stories dealt with fire departments around the country. A couple were humorous and some very serious. Speaking of serious, it was great to see Fresno CA Captain Dern on television, after undergoing more than a dozen surgeries to treat his 2nd and 3rd degree burns he received when he fell through the roof of a blazing garage! We wish him a speed and full recovery!

I'm not addressing the actual news stories in this post. Rather, I want to talk about the several PIO's that addressed the press after various events. In the first case, the PIO was an older gentleman, with a full head of snow-white hair. Unfortunately, he must have weighed nearly 300 pounds. "Well, he's only a PIO. What are you bitching about?" you may be asking yourself. The viewers have no idea of the difference between a PIO and any other firefighter other than, perhaps, the chief. What they see is a fat fireman.

On another story, the person speaking to the reporter was quite obese and he was a lieutenant, a front line officer. Now, let's add 60 pounds of PPE, gear, tools and some heavy exertion. Hmm?? Any ideas?

We recently discussed the number, "40%," the percentage of FF LODD's that are caused by mostly preventable health problems. Obesity, HTN (hypertension or high-blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, elevated cholesterol levels, etc. are just a few of the causes being listed by those fighting this scourge of the brave men and women who put their lives on the line. 

Listen, we all know that almost anything can, will and has happened on the way to or from a call, and during the call itself. However, for the most part, we can reduce the number of LODD's due to health causes by taking better care of ourselves. When did you take your last CPAT test? Two years, three years, four years ago? Longer? What if on your next duty day your captain tells you that you have two days and will take it again? Can you do it? Can you even do part of it?

None of us can answer for anyone else. The only one you have to answer to is the man/woman in the mirror, because he/she never lies!

So, ready for that test?

How Much is 40% to a Firefighter?

This post that you will read here, encompasses an extremely important issue that many first responders, especially, firefighters, EMT/Paramedics and Police Officers, must be made to read!! "Why?" you ask. Because for the year 2012-2013, forty percent (40%) of the firefighters who died either during or subsequently to responding to and/or working at a major, physically exhausting call, did so as a result of a medical condition.

I approach this important issue from three levels. I was a volunteer firefighter at two departments, one in NC and one in NY from 1977-1981 until an injury took me out-of-service. I earned my EMT-I and II in NC and also worked for the county EMS there for eight months, before we moved up to NY. Finally, I spent twelve years as the administrator of a medical practice, where the doctor used me for "other" duties, as well.

Throughout the entire time and even til today, I have never stopped reading FireHouse Magazine. For many years, other than visiting firehouses wherever I went, the magazine was my key connection to the fire-rescue service. And every month, I would read the LODD dedications and wonder why...why were so many firefighters dying? Not just dying, but dying from what looked like conditions unrelated to the last call or calls they had been on. 

You see, I guess I was lucky. Because during my brief years of service, I did not experience a LODD either in my own or the surrounding departments. We had some close calls in both locales, but no fatalities.

On the other hand, I've never been considered "svelte," at least not since I was seven years old. I started packing on extra pounds at that age and yo-yo'd the rest of my life. I was the last kid chosen by the others to be on a team in neighborhood sports. I had the cheeks that all of my late aunts loved to pinch. Finally, in college, I started to drop some weight by playing softball with friends. 

I've now been married over forty years and my wife is a terrific cook and baker. So through most of those 40 years, my weight has fluctuated, but it was always my decision to lose weight. I never waited for my doctor to tell me. I knew it myself when it was tough to button a pair of pants or my suit jackets were getting too tight.When that happened, I'd go "back on the wagon," and drop 15-25 pounds. I'd keep it off for several months, sometimes longer. But then the extra pounds renewed their attach and started to creep back on.

Finally, partly due to determination and partly due to meds that I have to take continually for my severe back condition, I've lost about 30 pounds and kept it off for almost a year now. Funny thing is, my back injury doesn't allow me to walk as much as I used to, so I exercise my bending my elbows....and pushing myself away from the dinner table!

As I'm sure you'll agree, we are part of a wonderful family. No matter where we serve, no matter if we're volunteers, career folk or paid-on-call responders, a firefighter is always a firefighter. Thus, as I read the LODD bulletins that come through my email or I read the articles online, in the paper or watch them on the news, every loss saddens me, especially those that might have been prevented. For some are simply not preventable and that's the first fact that we have to acknowledge, whether we like it or not.

However, we see that the rate of LODD's caused by health problems is nearly 40% of all LODD's, it must give us pause. As a popular commercial for heart disease demonstrates, no one really knows when they will have a heart attack, an aneurism or a stroke. What we can and do know is if we are out of physical conditioning to do our jobs. Sure, you may have passed a PAT test 15 years ago, but where are you now, especially if you're in a smaller department, that doesn't require annual or semi-annual physical exams? Do you still smoke or chew tobacco? What is your resting blood pressure? Pulse? What is your weight today compared to what it was when you entered the job? Has an officer, your spouse/significant other or doctor told you you need to lose weight? If so, have you heeded their call or brushed them off.

Remember the old TV show, "Home Improvement," where Tim Allen played the host of a TV show aimed at "real men," with "real power tools!" The more power, the more Tim howled and growled. While that was funny on TV, it can all too often lead to a tragedy in real life. Your doctor tells you to drop 25 pounds. "Yeah, Doc, sure," you reply, knowing full well that the doctor has no idea how hard you swung the sledge earlier that day to take out a heavy door. You tell yourself that those 25 pounds that he/she is complaining about is really what gives you that extra bulk, that power, to do your job! Horse shit! And you know it!

There's no doubt in my mind that over 90% of us love what we do. We love the action, we love the thrill, we love the services we perform and we don't want anything to get in the way of that. But ask yourself, "What else do I love?" Think about that for a moment or two. Then make a list of what else you love, i.e. your wife, your kids, your parents, your significant other, your siblings, your friends. Which ones are you ready to cross off the list first. What's more important to you, the job that you love or the people that you love and love you?

Remember, we can't control when and where the Devil wants to dance, but we can decide what kind of a "dance partner" he's going to face!

Stay Safe and let's make sure, "Every One Goes Home!"

The Sadness of Coincidences

I've been writing this blog plus another for several years now. I don't write every day or every week, and usually, not every month. But as it turns out, I'm writing this post one month after my last. So, what would bring me to this point?

Some of you may know that under our Twitter handle of @DalmatProd. All too often, my Tweets begin with the hash-tag, #LODD (Line Of Duty Death). I send out the info only upon confirmation of the loss and it includes the person's name, age, department, date of last alarm, and a compressed URL with details of the notice.

Sadly, all four of the line-of-duty-deaths that have occurred over the past five days have been health-related. No one died while battling a massive blaze; no one died in a collapse. Apparently, all four of our brothers were lost due to medical causes. And this is exactly what I wrote about in last month's column. For goodness sakes, just a month or so ago, we lost a firefighter who was 22 years old, to a health-related cause. 

Last week I was watching, "The View," and actor Kevin Sorbo, who used to play Hercules in a show of the same name, was appearing as a guest host. And during his segment, he mentioned that near the end of the show's sixth season, he suffered  several small strokes, due to a ruptured aneurism near his shoulder. He talked about having to relearn to coordinate his motor skills so he could walk again and speech therapy to help him re-tune his speaking ability. He considers himself one lucky guy and has even written a book about what he has been through, "True Strength: My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal & How Nearly Dying Saved My Life."

For at least a decade many of us connected with fire-rescue and EMS, along with many in various specialties of the medical community, have worked hard to promote stroke awareness through the re-phrasing from "stroke," to "brain attack." And the reason is simple. Almost everyone older than 13 knows a little about the symptoms of a "heart attack." However, ask them, "What is a stroke?" and many will be lost. However, most of the time, a stroke is exactly the same medical occurrence as a heart attack, except that it happens in the brain, to wit, a blockage of blood flow to the organ. 

Now in Sorbo's case, his stroke was caused by an rupture in an artery near his shoulder. When the artery ruptures, it allows blood to escape its normal path. When that happens, the blood cells don't have the "flow" behind them to push them along. The cells start to "crowd up" and eventually, like the proverbial snowball rolling down the hill, a mass of these loose cells get sucked up back into the blood vessel. The problem is that the vessel is built to handle a certain size cell, the like lanes on a highway. When this "clump" of cells re-enter the vessel, the clump is too big for the vessel and stops it up, like your bathroom seek. That stoppage, interferes with the blood flow the brain needs and BANGO! you have a "brain attack!"

While aneurisms can occur on their own due to a weakness in the blood vessel's walls, they are often the by-product of HTN or "hypertension," which we know is a curable and preventable medical condition. You can't walk into most supermarkets or pharmacies and not see one of the blood pressure machines. While they are not always the most accurate readings, they can provide you with a range that you may want to advise your doctor of. Additionally, brain-attacks are often a sign of CAD (Coronary Artery Disease). But all too often, people often relate CAD to heart disease, not brain disease. 

Worst of all, too many of us, male and female alike, still suffer from this "macho" image that we are invincible and that the only danger to us is on the fireground. Do you still fight a fully-involved car fire without wearing SCBA (Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus)? Or a dark, smoke-charged 2nd story window  of an apartment building? Why are you willing to take care of yourself on the fireground, but fail to care enough about your health to do so off the fireground?

If you have a family, do you make sure your kids get their shots? Take their vitamins? Do you call the doctor if their running a fever and complaining about ear pain? If so, why? Because you want the best for your children, the best for your family. Are you not a member of that same family? Are you not one of its very leaders? Then don't you owe yourself the very same diligence for your own health that you demand for your significant other and children!

It's time for us to put on our "big-boy" pants and schedule a visit with your family doctor or the department surgeon. Find out what your blood pressure is; learn what your total cholesterol is and if you need to change your food and alcohol intake, as well as salt, exercise, etc. to get it under control. If you are already on blood pressure or cholesterol meds, you owe to yourself, your family, and your colleagues, to do what you need to do to clean up your physical act and get as healthy as you can!

I never want send a Tweet about you!