This month I
want to bring attention to Heart Awareness. February every year is deemed Heart Awareness
Month by the American Heart Association and more now than ever, Heart disease
is an major epidemic for firefighters.
The U. S. Fire Administration (USFA) has tracked the number
of firefighter fatalities and conducted an annual analysis for 36 years. In this study 47.2% of all firefighters
deaths were from heart attack, 28.2% were from Trauma, 6.4% were from Asphyxiation,
5.7% were deemed other and 4.9% were Cerebrovascular Accident. It is time that we as firefighters step up
our game and take care of ourselves, look out for another. It is time to have
workout programs that are mandatory for all firefighters on the Job. If every firefighter did some type of cardio
workout everyday or even every other day I feel that we all could cut these
deaths down. I know it’s not going to happen overnight but overall within the
next 10 years we could possibly cut heart attacks in half.
I know that I
may not the healthiest eater or the big gym buff but I’m trying very hard to
set myself in the right direction. It’s
time for me to step up my game and I challenge each and every one of my
Firefighter, Police friends and family members to do the same.
