The team and
program exist to have a positive influence on member’s health and
fitness through a program that is non-punitive. It is a commitment from
management and labor to offer an individualized program that will
motivate firefighters, staff and other personnel to obtain and maintain
good health.
The goal of the
program is to strengthen our members mental, physical and emotional
capabilities enough to withstand the stresses and strains of our job and
our lives. This will hopefully allow us to do our job better and reduce
the amount of hours lost due to injury.
The program
encompasses the following areas:
- Medical
Fitness
- Physical
Fitness
- Emotional
Fitness
- Access to
Rehabilitation
There is also a
commitment to:
- The health,
safety and longevity of all department members
- The
productivity and performance of all fire crews
- The
cost-effectiveness and welfare of the department
The reasons for
this program are demonstrated each year throughout the nation and in our
own fire department. Each year the IAFF Death and Injury Survey
demonstrates that firefighting remains one of the most dangerous
occupations in the United States.
Long hours,
sporadic high intensity work, strong emotional involvement and exposure
to human suffering places firefighting among the most stressful
occupations one can encounter. By implementing this program we hope to
reduce the number of deaths or injuries from the three leading causes:
heart disease, lung disease and cancer.
Safety in
firefighting has traditionally meant the purchase of new equipment or
protective clothing, but we must realize the most important component in
emergency response is our members. Safety must include serving our
members through a wellness/fitness program.
All levels of
the Fire Department must support and commit to the program for it to
succeed. There are costs to implement such a program, but the rewards
and benefits can provide long term savings.
We hope the
improvements made in the next several years will encourage each member
to look at their own level of wellness and fitness, and to use this
program to stay healthy for many years to come.
Data Collection
All data collected is confidential. The fire
department for job history, medical and fitness evaluation or injury
data do not submit individual identities.
The data component of the Wellness/Fitness
Initiative includes the storage and analysis of detailed case
information related to medical condition, fitness, rehabilitation, and
behavioral health.
Critical elements of the data collection system
are the uniform, effective, and efficient collection of information from
all participating fire departments and the compilation of this
information in an international database for analysis purposes.
Currently the Phoenix Fire Department collects
accumulated data from all physicals and fitness evaluations conducted at
their facility. Reports are sent by Phoenix Fire to the IAFF Database on
a quarterly basis and include all Tempe data. A quarterly report is also
be sent to the Personnel Chief. The report will be used to compare with
other departments, rank, age, gender, and fitness.
Injury reports are generated by Risk Management
and are submitted to the Personnel Chief quarterly. All data collected
is used for city, department, regional and national reporting agencies.
The goal of data collection is to collect short and long-term
information on the health and fitness of the fire service and the Tempe
Fire Department. This information will qualify the impact of the
wellness and fitness program.
