Qualitative Assessment of Barriers and Ideal Wellness Programming Among Rural Firefighters

Effects of implementing a mandatory and consequential annual fitness assessment in a fire department over the initial 4-year period

BACKGROUND

Despite the physical nature of the occupation many firefighters have low levels of physical fitness which is associated with poor performance of occupational tasks and increased injury rates. For many fire departments an initial step in promoting health and wellness within the department is to conduct annual fitness testing.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the effects of implementing a consequential fitness assessment within a fire department.

METHODS

A retrospective repeated measures design was used to analyze annual fitness assessment data of professional firefighters (n = 1415) from 2019 to 2022 within a large urban fire department located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The fitness tests included assessments of pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, aerobic capacity, and body composition. Repeated measure analyses of variances (ANOVAs) assessed the effect of year and a 2-way ANOVA was conducted to investigate the effects of sex and age on fitness measures on 2022 data.

RESULTS

All fitness measures were found to be maintained over the 4-year period. Significant main effects of age and sex across all fitness measures, but no significant interactions were found. Older firefighters (50 + years) exhibited lower performance (p <  0.001, d >  0.80) on muscular fitness assessments than young firefighters (20-29 years). A large effect of sex (males >  females) was found for pull-ups (d = 1.04), push-ups (d = 1.23), and aerobic capacity (d = 1.38).

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest that implementing a consequential fitness assessment could help maintain firefighters' fitness levels over a multi-year period.

Fitness Policies Within the Fire Service: A Pilot Investigation of Exercise Adherence on Fitness Outcomes Among Rural Firefighters

The purpose of this study was to investigate the adherence to departmental fitness policies and to evaluate the impact of on-duty firefighters’ adherence to fitness outcomes. This cross-sectional designed study utilized a convenience sample of 40 career firefighters from one department in rural southeast Georgia. Onsite gym attendance logs were recorded during a 10-month period. Firefighters were classified as lowest (0-16 sessions), low (17-30 sessions), moderate (31-44 sessions), or high (45+ sessions) adherence for analyses based on gym attendance. The fitness outcomes were retrieved from required annual fitness testing, including measurements of muscular strength (1RMest leg press and 1RMest bench press), muscular endurance (pushup), muscle power (vertical jump), cardiovascular fitness (submaximal treadmill), mobility (functional movement screen), and flexibility (shoulder elevation). Only 12.5% (n = 5) of firefighters complied with the department’s fitness policy of a minimum 75% adherence rate. Furthermore, there were significant differences (P ≤ .05) between various muscular strength, endurance, and flexibility between adherence rates. This study indicated that firefighters that complied more with the fitness policies were more physically fit than those that did not. Considerations should be made to promote and enforce departmental fitness policies to ensure that firefighters can physically perform their responsibilities.