The Wrong Kind of Big Hearts in Firefighting Physical Exhertion (Firefighting Research and Community Service)

It is that time and you must do RIT training. RIT training is an acronym for rapid intervention training where firefighters go in and grab someone and pull them out. Typically, they are pulling out downed firefighters, but it can be anyone. If you have engaged in one of these RIT training and need to pull either a dummy or a staged firefighter out, you will soon find how difficult it can be. Add to that oxygen mask, being blind, not allowed to stand up, following the hoseline on your knees, lots of commotion, hazards everywhere, and pulling a 190lb person along with you and you better have a minimum fitness level. It is a relatively slow going heavy exhertion process by yourself inch by inch and foot by foot. (There are a few tricks and I'm not the expert. I would generally try and use my bodyweight with a harness/strap if I was by myself. Here is a video that shows the basics. RIT training). 

Source: Firefighting and the Heart:
 Implications for Prevention

One of the biggest risks for firefighters is their heart. Yes, research supports that they have big hearts because they volunteer and care for their communities (i.e. actually in many cases volunteering huge portions of time and training.) However, in this case we are talking about big hearts that cause heart attacks.

The study Firefighting and the Heart: Implications for Prevention discusses the importance of firefighters taking care of their health and increasing cardiovascular disease awareness. Typically the older we get the more issues we are going to have. 

Prevention is going to be fitness and healthy food. A few quick tips:

 1.) Eat healthy. That is the biggest one for older people. Can't outrun a bad diet. Basic Food for Fitness

 2.) Exercise Regularly. Cross fit train with weights and cardio. I would throw some HIT in there to burn the calories and prepare the heart for bursts of energy that are most likely to be experienced at a fire.

 3.) Hydrate. This is one that I struggle with. Too much pop and coffee. More water is going to help when at the gym or on scene. Start moving around in turnout gear during a hot day and you are going to need to replenish water.

I'm a licensed fitness trainer and have a Seshi Yoga license (more rehabilitative) so if you need a little help let me know and send a message to the right. If your a firefighter I can give you a few tips no charge. Thanks for your service.

In addition, I'm trying to raise funds for a great fire department that includes lifesaving equipment like battery powered Jaws of life, training equipment, battery fans, etc. If you have a few corporate dollars to donate to a non-profit send me a message to the right and I will connect you with a department that would love to use it for a good cause. What is the tax treatment of charitable contributions? and Charitable contribution deductions-IRS

Kales, S. & Smih, D. (2017) Firefighting and the Heart: Implications for Prevention. Circulation. 135 (14)
https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.027018