FASNY establishes health committee
The Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY) has established a Health & Wellness Committee, which President Robert McConville says, “underscores one of the association’s top priorities-the mission of ‘A Healthy Firefighter Is Everyone’s Fight.’” FASNY represents 92,000 volunteer firefighters and emergency medical workers.
Jacqueline Moline, MD, MSc, based in Long Island, will chair the committee. Dr. Moline served as the director of Mount Sinai’s Clinical Center of Excellence within the World Trade Center (WTC) Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program. She now directs Northwell’s WTC Clinical Center of Excellence in Queens, New York. She has been involved in occupational medicine for 25-plus years. She was a founder of the WTC medical program; chairs the Department of Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology and Prevention at the Northwell Health System; and directs the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Center of Long Island.
FASNY’s Health & Wellness Committee members include, in addition to Dr. Moline, Dr. Jamie Rockwin, vice chair; Kerri Winans-Kaley, secretary; and Kelli LaPage and Alexander Peter Ruckh, members. Diana Pfersick, MHA, RN, EMT-CC, is the FASNY liaison to the committee. The committee will advise FASNY leadership on matters of health unique to firefighting, focusing on cancer, heart issues, and mental health in the fire service, explains McConville. FASNY has also established a Web site (http://www.fasny.com/category/wellness/) to bring attention to the critical issue of wellness for first responders.
Initiative will teach bystanders how to control bleeding
The “Stop the Bleed” campaign, launched by the federal government in October 2015, has as its objective training Americans to serve as “immediate responders” by recognizing and treating major bleeding in the first minutes after an injury, before first responders arrive. Rick Hunt, MD, the emergency physician and former member of the White House National Security Council staff, led the interagency effort to create the initiative.
The campaign includes a new Web site (http://www.dhs.gov/stopthebleed). A component of the initiative will be to provide personal bleeding control kits for purchase and for public gathering places that include “just-in-time” audio and visual training.
Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a former paramedic, is asking everyone to educate and empower the public to act: “We teach people CPR,” he says, “but often, professional rescuers and medical personnel discourage the public from intervening. We need to go back and give the public permission. We need to empower the public again.”
NVFC participates in conference on firefighter heart health
Steve Hirsch, the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) first vice chair, participated in the Heart to Heart Conference hosted by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation in Washington, DC, in December. The primary objective of the meeting, according to the NVFC, was to strategize an evidence-based approach to reduce cardiac disease and death in the fire service.
Researchers presented the findings of their latest studies relating to firefighter cardiac health, including the following:
- Electrolytes modify plasma viscosity changes, and vascular walls stiffen when firefighters are involved in high-heat environments.
- Additional concerns facing firefighters include heart enlargement, high blood pressure, obesity, sleep apnea, and preexisting coronary disease.
- Failure to hydrate properly and to take charge of one’s fitness and wellness are more detrimental to firefighter well-being than factors like the weight of the gear.
- All of these issues are interrelated to cancer, substance abuse, and behavioral health. “This research proves that fire service leaders need to do a better job of rehab and of pushing health and fitness in the fire service,” said Hirsch. “This is not a volunteer or a career issue but rather an issue that affects the entire fire service community. Regardless of pay status, we all perform the same functions, and we all die in similar ways. We all need to examine what we can do to lessen the risks and better protect ourselves and our colleagues from cardiac-related death and injury.” Additional information on firefighter heart health, lowering risk factors, and developing a department health and wellness program is at www.healthy-firefighter.org.Bottom of Form.
Zadroga 9/11 Act and fire programs funded by Appropriations Act
The House and Senate approved H.R. 2029, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The $1.15 trillion spending bill will fund the federal government through the end of FY 2016. It includes the following:
- The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act, which reauthorizes the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. The WTC Health Program has been extended through 2090, effectively making the program permanent. The Victim Compensation Fund has been authorized for an additional five years.
- The Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs are funded at $345 million each, an increase of $5 million each over FY2015 levels.
- The United States Fire Administration is funded at $44 million.
- The Urban Search and Rescue System is funded at $35.18 million.
- The bill delayed for two years the implementation of the “Cadillac” tax, an excise tax on high-cost health care plans that was included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. There has been concern over whether the excise tax would adversely affect those in “high-risk” professions, such as firefighting, according to the Congressional Fire Services Institute, which supports efforts to ensure the excise tax does not adversely impact firefighters.
LINE-OF-DUTY DEATHS
2015
December 14. Firefighter/Paramedic Daniel V. Capuano, 42, Chicago (IL) Fire Department: injuries sustained from falling down an elevator shaft during a warehouse fire.
December 15. Firefighter Sidney “Sid” Winer, 92, No. 7 Township Fire Rescue, New Bern, NC: injuries sustained in an accident in the department vehicle in November 2015.
December 19. Firefighter Stacy A. Crawford, 47, Navarro County Emergency Services District #1 Fire Department, Powell, TX: cause of death unknown.
December 19. Captain Jack H. Rose, 19, Mount Marion Fire Department, Saugerties, NY: cause of death unknown.
December 21. Captain Willie B. Ratliff, 66, Clarksdale (MS) Fire Department: apparent heart attack.
December 22. Fire Police Officer Louis “Pop” Patti, 67, Warwick Township Fire Company, Jamison, PA: cerebrovascular accident suffered on December 6, 2015.
December 28. Firefighter Patrick R. Wolterman, 28, Hamilton (OH) Fire Department: cause of death unknown.
2016
January 2. Firefighter Trainee Charles C. Adams Jr., 48, Spring Arbor Township (MI) Fire Department: cause of death to be determined.
January 11. Firefighter/Paramedic Kenneth K. Harris, 56, Village of Oak Park (IL) Fire Department: cardiac arrest.
January 12. Firefighter Joshua Woods, 24, Siler City (NC) Fire Department: accident while driving to a call in his personal vehicle.
January 13. Deputy Chief Clarence “Speed” Hartbank, 79, Fremont County Fire District, Riverton, WY: burns and injuries sustained from falling through the ceiling of a bunker in September 2015 while fighting a grass and structure fire.
Source: USFA Firefighters Memorial Database
Fire Engineering Archives
